Bitcoin bull Michael Saylor makes $370 million from MicroStrategy sale | Wilnesh News

micro strategy Founder and Bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor entered into a stock sale plan with his company last summer, allowing him to sell up to 400,000 shares in the first four months of 2024.

It’s a timely deal for the 59-year-old cryptocurrency billionaire.

With the plan more than 90% complete, Thaler netted about $370 million from stock sales this year, thanks to the surge in MicroStrategy’s value, which is effectively a Bitcoin holding company.

Saylor, who founded MicroStrategy in 1989 as a software and technology consulting firm and still serves as chairman, has become a Bitcoin hero in recent years, telling CNBC last month that the cryptocurrency would “eat gold.”His company leveraged its balance sheet and tapped the capital markets to acquire more than 214,000 Bitcoin Since announcing its strategy to enter the cryptocurrency market in mid-2020.

These assets represent approximately 1% of the total Bitcoin minted to date and are currently worth approximately $13.6 billion, accounting for the majority of MicroStrategy’s $21.3 billion market capitalization. The stock has been a Wall Street darling of late, and despite falling 37% from its March highs, it’s still up 91% this year after surging 346% in 2023, making it one of the best performers on the U.S. stock market.

Saylor is MicroStrategy’s largest shareholder, with its Class B holdings valued at approximately $2.3 billion. As of the end of 2023, Thaler will own an additional 400,000 Class A shares as a result of options he received in 2014.

buried near its end Third quarter financial report On November 1, MicroStrategy announced that the company and Saylor had reached an agreement in September called a 10b5-1 plan, allowing the founders to sell up to 5,000 shares each trading day from January 2 to April 25 this year. stock. The shares are tied to “vested stock options which, if not exercised, will expire on April 30, 2024.”

As of this week, Saylor has sold 370,000 shares worth a total of $372.7 million, filings show.As of press time, his holdings of Class A shares have dropped to 30,000 shares latest sales Revealed Thursday.

MicroStrategy did not respond to a request for comment.

Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer called the stock sale “entirely procedural” because the trading plan executed last year did not at all reflect Saylor’s confidence in MicroStrategy or his view of the stock price.

However, the retail investor community has a different view.There are many posts on it Reddit Indicating that Thaler may be selling for other reasons, some members r/MSTR The subreddit speculates that he was using cash to purchase Bitcoin directly. Some say they are for sale with Seiler. The stock fell 29% in April, while Bitcoin fell 11%.

Palmer, who has a “buy” rating on the stock, countered that the view “will be misinterpreted by investors and traders.”

“What we’re seeing here is very simple, everything has been disclosed,” Palmer said. “For those who may not know the details or know the details but may be shorting the stock, it’s easy to turn the tables. As is often the case, it’s easy to find the truth.”

Even after selling his shares, the bulk of Saylor’s wealth is still concentrated in his holdings of MicroStrategy Class B shares and the 17,732 Bitcoins he purchased in 2020, currently worth about $1.1 billion.

The rise in Bitcoin and related investments is largely related to A Bitcoin exchange-traded fund received regulatory approval earlier this year ahead of its halving this week. This technical event occurs every four years, cutting rewards for Bitcoin miners in half and slowing down the rate at which new Bitcoins enter the market.

Saylor said that in a market where consumers can buy Bitcoin directly on various exchanges or choose from a large number of new ETFs, MicroStrategy’s continued advantage is that it is a leveraged Bitcoin play with no management fees.The company could raise funds to delve deeper into the cryptocurrency space, it said last month it rolled up $782 million “to purchase additional Bitcoins.” The cash came from convertible bonds sold at an interest rate of 0.625%.

“Is there any company in the world that can borrow $1 billion at less than 1% interest to invest in your best idea?” Thaler said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” in March. He added that the company’s leverage creates volatility, which “attracts capital and then we can increase leverage.”

Benchmark’s Palmer said there are many reasons to continue to be bullish on MicroStrategy, especially with the halving coming soon. The price of Bitcoin has increased following past halving events.

“If I own shares of MicroStrategy, I would very much like to hold them now,” Palmer said.