Saylor steps down as Microstrategy CEO

[Dave1]

Michael Saylor has stepped down as the CEO of MicroStrategy as it lost almost $1 billion worth of bitcoin holdings.

Bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor is stepping down as the CEO of the software company he co-founded, MicroStrategy, and will instead take on the role of executive chairman. Saylor’s belief in Bitcoin has turned the company into a holding vehicle for the cryptocurrency. The news came as the company reported its second-quarter earnings. It noted a loss of $1.062 billion, mostly due to an impairment charge of $917 million based on the value of its Bitcoin holdings, which have plunged since the price peaked in November last year.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/2/23289397/michael-saylor-bitcoin-microstrategy-ceo-steps-down

Although he will remain as Executive Chairman and Phong Le taking the role of CEO from him.

And as Executive Chairman, he will focused himself to what he do best, "Bitcoin acquisition and strategy".

What are your thoughts on this moved?

[gunhell16]

Michael Saylor has stepped down as the CEO of MicroStrategy as it lost almost $1 billion worth of bitcoin holdings.

Bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor is stepping down as the CEO of the software company he co-founded, MicroStrategy, and will instead take on the role of executive chairman. Saylor’s belief in Bitcoin has turned the company into a holding vehicle for the cryptocurrency. The news came as the company reported its second-quarter earnings. It noted a loss of $1.062 billion, mostly due to an impairment charge of $917 million based on the value of its Bitcoin holdings, which have plunged since the price peaked in November last year.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/2/23289397/michael-saylor-bitcoin-microstrategy-ceo-steps-down

Although he will remain as Executive Chairman and Phong Le taking the role of CEO from him.

And as Executive Chairman, he will focused himself to what he do best, "Bitcoin acquisition and strategy".

What are your thoughts on this moved?

After reading the article, if I look at him, it looks like what happened to Michael Sylor from being the CEO, he will be the Executive Chairman. But from another angle, this is a strategy for them to raise more funds in the future and this will happen by investing millions in cryptocurrency a few years from now. Also, it seems that Michael Saylor can do a better and perfect strategy when he is in the position of being the Executive Chairman of their company, as well as the new CEO according to my analysis on this matter, and apart from this I have no other visible reason.

But on the other hand it has a good impact on those of us who believe in cryptocurrency, it increases the reputation of this industry, which is one of the biggest companies in the world investing millions of dollars because of the great belief in this matter in Bitcoin or cryptocurrency.
I can still say that this is a good decision that Michael Saylor made in the move of putting a large amount of money into this Bitcoin industry.

[OgNasty]

What are your thoughts on this move?

I think investors have probably brought up some concerns about their Bitcoin position and strategy given the recent losses in this bear market.  This move probably assures them that there is a man at the helm that is focusing on the core business and not just tweeting about Bitcoin and giving interviews every day.  It also frees up Saylor to spend more of his time tweeting about Bitcoin and giving interviews every day.    It might be a bit of an embarrassment for Saylor, but he's managed to keep MSTR from selling their BTC so he's got to still be happy.

[TravelMug]

He is still at the helm of his company, maybe he will just focus more on investing on bitcoin. And I doubt that he is stepping down as CEO because he is losing billions, for sure we all know that we are in the bear market and so everyone's investment is on the negative.

And when we are in the next bull run, for sure all the risk that he had to take, to become the face of bitcoin will pay-off as his investments will grow larger.

[wilkine]

Could do something different
Maybe bad news soon

[Bttzed03]

I'm not familiar with their organizational chart but is he also the company's fist ever Executive Chairman? I get the feeling that the title was just created to save his face. Whatever the case, I share @OgNasty's view on this. They have become more identified as a company that buys and holds bitcoins than a leading software company. I guess we should expect MS to slow down on btc acquisition after this.

[bbc.reporter]

And as Executive Chairman, he will focused himself to what he do best, "Bitcoin acquisition and strategy".

What are your thoughts on this moved?

What he does best? I reckon that should hire the best traders to manage Microstrategy's investment portfolio in bitcoin because Michael Saylor does not have a good recorded performance in investing.

I speculate this article might be a signal that the worst for the market is finished already, however, everyone should remain very cautious.



MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor once lost $6 billion in a day. His big bet on Bitcoin might sink him once and for all

Source https://fortune.com/2022/08/03/michael-saylor-microstrategy-stock-bitcoin-bet-debt-outlook/

[jackg]

He is still at the helm of his company, maybe he will just focus more on investing on bitcoin. And I doubt that he is stepping down as CEO because he is losing billions, for sure we all know that we are in the bear market and so everyone's investment is on the negative.

The thing about him stepping down after making a billion dollar loss sounds like a move more strategic for investors (maybe Saylor picked such an ambiguous position for himself to try to stay away from being linked to any new strategy the company comes up with under it's new figurehead). You're no longer investing in a company with a ceo that's made a 1bn loss, you're investing in one that can change leadership and may be run better as a result.


This news initially sounded bearish to me and I still can't decide if it is or not. I'd guess they could be taking a step back to maybe take a more intensive look at btc and see how the company could've better adapted to relieving its debts.

[2stout]

This wasn't a voluntary step down, it was a nicely worded smackdown no matter how the company want to spin this.  Pretty sure if he didn't comply, it would have gotten really ugly for him.  Too many internal stakeholder and overall shareholder concerns for him to remain as CEO.

[n0ne]

Saylor stepping down as Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy lets him focus on acquisition of more bitcoin as the adoption of bitcoin around the globe is into high acceleration. Before making bitcoin treasury strategy the stocks of MicroStrategy were around $100 - $150 for years. This touched a high of $1034 during the February month 2021. The growth is being experienced through bitcoin and surely whatever decision taken relative to bitcoin is gonna bring them growth.

What we see with the stepping down as CEO too is the same. There's loss out of bitcoin, but in the long term it'll surely give the best results. Stepping down is a plan and not out of pressure in my view.

[NotATether]

I speculate this article might be a signal that the worst for the market is finished already, however, everyone should remain very cautious.

MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor once lost $6 billion in a day. His big bet on Bitcoin might sink him once and for all

Source https://fortune.com/2022/08/03/michael-saylor-microstrategy-stock-bitcoin-bet-debt-outlook/

Fortune, one year ago:
People who bought Bitcoin in 2016 have made a large return on it

Fortune, now:

His big bet on Bitcoin might sink him once and for all

Fortune, two years from now:

If you bought $30,000 of bitcoin 5 years ago, you would be a millionaire now


Look, the magazines don't actually care about anything except for outdoing their rival publications, that's why they make these kind of headlines that make them sound ridiculous.

[Poker Player]

This wasn't a voluntary step down, it was a nicely worded smackdown no matter how the company want to spin this.  Pretty sure if he didn't comply, it would have gotten really ugly for him.  Too many internal stakeholder and overall shareholder concerns for him to remain as CEO.

Do you have any sources to back up that nonsense you say? Saylor has the majority of the voting power in MSTR so what you say makes no sense, he could do whatever he wanted.

This move probably assures them that there is a man at the helm that is focusing on the core business and not just tweeting about Bitcoin and giving interviews every day.  It also frees up Saylor to spend more of his time tweeting about Bitcoin and giving interviews every day.    

Lol, that's what I was thinking. He has a new job within the company to focus on buying Bitcoin? It will surely be what you say. Now he can devote full time to show business, without wasting time on bullshit like managing a business.

[franky1]

1. he didnt lose his job. no one asked him to vacate his office and leave the building within the hour
2. he repositioned himself so he can concentrate on bitcoin(his preferential role/professional hobby) and let another guy delegate the daily tasks of the software stuff(something he is not interesting in pursuing daily himself)
3. they will still acquire crypto, and have no plan for mass sell off
4. they have not made an actual physical loss because they have not actually sold at a loss to be a loss
5. the valuation change compared to last year is just 'paper' stats. which are never in a constant upward directions for any company that has a high collateral of assets to measure. they do have ups and downs even if they have not sold at a loss to actually lose.
6. having 'paper' loses are actually a strategic advantage if utilised well, and some companies actually love having periods of negatives 'on paper' as they can then have a bumper year the next year. its NEVER a case of every year is an exponential rise compared to previous year


seems to be alot of FUD to create negative press. maybe done so to push microstrategy share price down while its down so that people can buy more while already down(cheap) to then benefit more from the uplift after the news FUD cycles shifts

that said the effect microstrategy has on actual bitcoin in the markets of everyone wont get hit bad and thus not a big deal con concern selves over

[bittraffic]

I wouldn't really say this is a voluntary step down because he basically, owns this company.

But because he is demoted, it does mean he loses votes? Somehow there is the need for inside news for this to be cleared out, the politics inside a company is just hard to govern. If one has great influence among others, he'll get more votes. Phong Le must have swayed people knowing Saylor is like a spokesman of the company as well.

[2stout]

This wasn't a voluntary step down, it was a nicely worded smackdown no matter how the company want to spin this.  Pretty sure if he didn't comply, it would have gotten really ugly for him.  Too many internal stakeholder and overall shareholder concerns for him to remain as CEO.

Do you have any sources to back up that nonsense you say? Saylor has the majority of the voting power in MSTR so what you say makes no sense, he could do whatever he wanted.

I have no issue with Saylor and believe his moves with MSTR will pay off in the next few years quite nicely, but before you say nonsense, I also look at the business aspects of things.  Sure he could do whatever he wanted, but he is no fool and wouldn't want to spook investors or tank the company.  Many investors, including 'activist' investors, don't have a solid foundational understanding of BTC and have a myopic viewpoint- q2q and as much as it sucks, there is going to be some appeasement for them, esp when you lose over 1B in a q.  He could always take his company private and do what he wants but with current market conditions and climate, going from public to private may not be the move to make right now.

[KaliLinux]

I wouldn't really say this is a voluntary step down because he basically, owns this company.

But because he is demoted, it does mean he loses votes? Somehow there is the need for inside news for this to be cleared out, the politics inside a company is just hard to govern. If one has great influence among others, he'll get more votes. Phong Le must have swayed people knowing Saylor is like a spokesman of the company as well.

Or on the other hand, it could be that he did voluntarily step down, as you said he basically owns the company but at a time even a Micheal Saylor might want to take that move just to calm the internal temperature of the majority if he believes that the investors have a genuine concern.

[avikz]

It's quite strange that Microstrategy is looking at bitcoin with a short term outlook! Bitcoin is a long term game. I wonder what this company will do once we are back into bull cycle and the price will break the previous ATH. Will they re-instate Saylor as a CEO? As an executive Chairman, Saylor will not have much power to take direct decisions. That's why Microstrategy is offering this post to him. CEO is the one, who will take decisions and Executive Chairman will just have to sign it. That's all the power he will have. So I doubt Microstrategy will ever invest in bitcoin again.

In a way, it's good for bitcoin because a single entity will not accumulate more and take it toward centralization. But it's hilarious to see a company taking such decisions based on a short term outcome. Not good and it lacks vision, clearly!

[stompix]

And as Executive Chairman, he will focused himself to what he do best, "Bitcoin acquisition and strategy".
What are your thoughts on this moved?

That they should totally split the company in half:
Microbankrupcy, to take care of their actual business which was already falling pretty hard prior to this.
Lasereyes, to focus on bitcoin purchases and tweeting 24/7.

But on the other hand it has a good impact on those of us who believe in cryptocurrency, it increases the reputation of this industry, which is one of the biggest companies in the world investing millions of dollars because of the great belief in this matter in Bitcoin or cryptocurrency.

Biggest in the world? Just lol.
Microstrategy's total market cap is 3.5 billion, Apple's is $2596 billion, it's not even in the first 1000 companies in the world, and not by a long margin.

I wouldn't really say this is a voluntary step down because he basically, owns this company.

He doesn't own the company, he has 72% of the voting power through class shares but has only 23.7% of the total shares of the company.

Anyhow, shares are up
313.68+35.42 (+12.73%)
so seems other investors are pleased with the kick in the butt!
 

[TheBeardedBaby]

As long as they are not selling like Musk, they are not really on a loss.
Nobody can identify precisely the bottoms and the tops so, hodling is the best strategy, and Saylor knows it.
Just wait until the next bull run. Then he will be the smartest guy in the room again..
I bought my bitcoins back when the price was 4.5K and I didn't sell them when it hit that 3K in 2019 even tho I was at a loss, of course those were my money, not investor's money, but if you trust the judgment of a guy on a highly volatile asset like bitcoin with your money you should expect this kind of scenarios to happen.

Emotions are really difficult to control.

[Coin_trader]

I don’t know what other guys thinking above and being positive on this news by providing speculation for bigger picture but a CEO will stepped down if he is not performing properly for his job description. He might be voted out by share holders because of the reported losses and not because Saylor want a different role. This is a company with share holders. It’s obvious that the CEO will be kicked out if there company loss tons of money due to CEO decision.

It’s very hard to find an investors in time like this while your company record a billion loss for just a small amount of time after making such decision on investing to crypto. The new CEO might do damage control in the future.