MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor Has Resigned- Following $917 Million In Bitcoin Investment Losses!

Early this week, MicroStrategy (MSTR) announced its CEO had stepped down. Micheal Saylor, the CEO, would now take the position of the executive chairman and put all his focus on the company’s Bitcoin Strategy. Meanwhile, Phong Le (MicroStrategy President) would become the next CEO. 

Saylor made an official statement and said he would focus more on Bitcoin Acquisition strategies and new advocacy initiatives. Also, the roles of the CEO and chairman would split. The change in the roles and appointment of Phong Le as CEO would be effective from Monday. 

MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor Has Resigned

Saylor (who laid the foundation of MicroStrategy in 1989) further added that Phong Le would manage all the corporate operations.

MicroStrategy had faced a loss of 1.06 Billion USD, or the USD 94.1 a share. The value of shares had widened from USD 300 Million or 30.7 USD a year before. The second quarter losses are approximately twice what they had faced a year ago. 

Company Performance In Q2

MicroStrategy has reported an impairment charge of USD 918 million approximately during the Second Quarter. This charge originated from the company’s investment in Bitcoin. 

The price has dropped from its all-time high in November 2021 to USD 24 Thousand. Per the different market analysts, the cryptocurrency market is experiencing a crypto winter since the total market cap has plunged this year from USD 3 Trillion to 1.1 Trillion. 

Saylor had said multiple times that MicroStrategy would not stop buying bitcoin. Also, he believes that crypto assets are the best investment. 

He also believes that Ethereum is a great asset of security rather than a commodity. He further asserted commodities such as gold or steel have never changing characteristics and a no issuer. Meanwhile, Vitalik Buterin (Creator Ethereum) had called Micheal Saylor a clown. 

After the announcement, there was little or no change in the shares. The stock has gained over 60 percent in price in the past month. 

There are also some unique plans, such as Fidelity’s Bitcoin Retirement plan 401K for all the MicroStrategy employees at Microstrategy.

SEC Probe For MicroStrategy

Quite a time ago, The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) opened up an investigation for the MicroStrategy for the Bitcoin Investment they filed in 2021. It was found that MicroStrategy has used non-GAAP Measures (non Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). In different scenarios, such non-GAAP methods were used. 

In 2000, the SEC opened a probe into possible civil accounting fraud. The SEC had accused Saylor and some of the top executives of overstating the earnings and revenue after it went public in June 1998. It is believed that Saylor and his executives have settled with the SEC for 11 million US Dollars, but the officials have denied it. 

MicroStrategy is the first company that adopted bitcoin, believing it to be a revolutionary financial technology. Saylor had been quite vocal and a true believer of Bitcoin. As per the statistics, MicroStrategy has spent over 3 Billion USD to acquire approximately 130,000 Bitcoins.