Why Michael Saylor Is Selling $216M Of MicroStrategy Shares?
Michael Saylor, the executive chairman of MicroStrategy, a leading business intelligence and software company, has begun a four-month process of selling $216 million worth of his shares in the firm, according to a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 2.
The filing shows that Saylor has started selling his 315,000 stock option awards, which were granted to him in April 2014 and will expire on April 30, 2024. He sold his first tranche of 5,000 shares on January 2.
Saylor revealed his plan to sell 5,000 MSTR shares per trading day for the next four months, during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on November 2. He said that the sale would allow him to address his “personal obligations” and acquire more Bitcoin for his account.
“Exercising this option will allow me to address personal obligations as well as acquire additional bitcoin to my account,” Saylor said on the call.
“I continue to be optimistic about MicroStrategy’s prospects and should note that my equity stake in the company after these sales will remain very significant”, he added.
According to a November 1 Q-10 filing with the SEC, Saylor can sell a maximum of 400,000 shares of his vested options between January 2 and April 26 this year, subject to a minimum price condition.
MicroStrategy: Michael Saylor Bitcoin Buying Actions
Saylor is one of the most vocal and influential advocates of Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization. He has been buying Bitcoin for both the company and his account since last year when he publicly announced his conversion to the Bitcoin standard.
In August 2020, MicroStrategy became the first publicly traded company to adopt Bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset, buying 21,454 bitcoins for $250 million.
As of Dec. 27, 2023, MicroStrategy owned 189,150 Bitcoin, worth about $8.5 billion at current prices, making it the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin in the world. The company’s Bitcoin holdings have appreciated by more than 300% since its initial purchase, outperforming both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indexes.
Saylor has also been buying Bitcoin for his account, which he started in September 2020. He has not disclosed the exact amount of bitcoin holdings, but he said that he plans to use part of the proceeds from his stock sale to buy more.
“I’m a big believer in Bitcoin, it’s the best money ever created,” Saylor said in an interview with Bloomberg in December.
Saylor’s Bullish Outlook on Bitcoin and MicroStrategy
Saylor has repeatedly expressed his bullish outlook on Bitcoin, predicting that it will reach $1 million in the next decade and will eventually become a global reserve currency.
“I think that MicroStrategy is in a unique position to be the leader in the Bitcoin space, and I think that’s good for our shareholders, it’s good for our employees, it’s good for our customers,” Saylor said on the earnings call.
