It’s shaping up as one of the most fascinating and important stories in Australian corporate history.

Australia’s third richest man, tech billionaire Mike Cannon Brookes, is trying to steer Australia’s biggest polluting company AGL toward a greener future.

In recent days, Cannon Brookes has amassed an 11 per cent shareholding in the energy company.

At a critical upcoming meeting, all AGL shareholders will have to decide whether to join Cannon Brookes in voting against an AGL plan to demerge its business and keep some of its coal-fired power stations open until 2045.

Their decision will shape not only the fate of one of Australia’s largest companies but the future of Australia’s transition to a lower carbon economy.

Today on Please Explain, business reporter Nick Toscano joins Jess Irvine to discuss the latest.