Michael Saylor is stepping down as CEO of MicroStrategy
Important takeaways
- MicroStrategy announced today that CEO Michael Saylor would step down from that position.
- Saylor will remain a CEO and chairman.
- The famous Bitcoin bull steps away from day-to-day operations to focus solely on Bitcoin acquisition strategy.
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Michael Saylor is stepping down as CEO of MicroStrategy.
Saylor will step down
Micro strategy announced today in its earnings report that Michael Saylor will no longer serve as CEO as of August 8. Instead, Saylor will take on a new role as executive chairman. Phong Le, MicroStrategy’s president, replaces Saylor as CEO.
Saylor remains chairman and CEO of the company. He stated in the press release that as executive chairman, his focus will be solely on “Bitcoin acquisition strategy and related Bitcoin advocacy initiatives.” At the same time, Le will manage the company’s day-to-day operations.
Founded in 1989, Microstrategy is a software company that provides business intelligence, mobile software and cloud-based services. Saylor had been CEO of Microstrategy since its inception. Le, who joined the company in 2015, has served as president since July 2020. In the press release, Le was credited with “delivering one of the [company’s] best operating and accounting year’ in 2021.
Microstrategy was the first publicly traded business to start buying Bitcoin as part of its treasury, paving the way for other tech companies like Tesla to add the cryptocurrency to their own balance sheets.
While Tesla sold its Bitcoin holdings in the recent market downturn, today’s earnings report indicates that as of June 30, MicroStrategy still held 129,699 Bitcoin, a sum worth approximately $2.98 billion at today’s prices. According to the report, the company purchased its Bitcoin for an average cost of $30,664 per coin; the leading cryptocurrency was trading at $23,000 at press time.
Saylor has repeatedly dispelled rumors that Microstrategy’s holdings are facing liquidation, saying the company will only face complications if the price of Bitcoin falls to $3,562.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.
