Michael Saylor, the founder of MicroStrategy, has disposed of as many as 370,000 shares of the company he helped establish during the previous four months. This action came about following an agreement he entered into with MicroStrategy for stock sales last year.

According to the deal, he is permitted to sell a maximum of 400,000 shares before April of this year.

Saylor to Offload 400,000 Shares

Michael Saylor has realized gains of approximately $372.7 million by selling around 370,000 shares this year. This represents over 90% of the 400,000 shares he had committed to sell in last summer’s September deal with MicroStrategy.

According to the 10b5-1 arrangement, Saylor had the ability to sell as many as 5,000 shares each day from January 2 to April 25. These particular shares were linked to a stock option with an expiration date of April 30, 2024. However, his Class A shareholdings have since reduced to 30,000 shares after the most recent sale reported on Thursday.

The stock has experienced a 37% drop since its March high, but it has still seen impressive gains, increasing by 91% this year. This growth comes after an extraordinary 346% rise in 2023, positioning the stock as one of the standout performers within the US stock market.

With approximately $2.3 billion worth of Class B shares, Saylor holds the title as MicroStrategy’s largest shareholder. Furthermore, he owns an additional 400,000 Class A shares obtained through a 2014 option grant. Currently, he is actively selling off these Class A shares, as revealed in the company’s third-quarter earnings report filed in November.

Saylor’s Bitcoin Holdings Thrive Amid Market Surge

Saylor has sold a considerable amount of stocks, yet a large portion of his fortune remains invested in MicroStrategy’s Class B shares, along with the 17,732 Bitcoins he bought in 2020, currently worth around $1.1 billion.

During that time, MicroStrategy has acquired around 214,000 Bitcoins starting from 2020. This represents about 1% of all existing Bitcoins in circulation. Currently, these Bitcoins are worth around $13.6 billion, making up most of MicroStrategy’s $21.3 billion total market value.

This year, Bitcoin has experienced significant growth, leading to increased profits for MicroStrategy. The introduction of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January has been a major contributor to this surge. Additionally, the Bitcoin halving event, which occurs approximately every four years and reduces the rewards given to Bitcoin miners, has brought about greater market involvement.

In a market where people can buy Bitcoin directly from exchanges or invest in new Bitcoin ETFs, Saylor highlights MicroStrategy’s unique edge: the ability to make large Bitcoin investments with increased leverage, without paying additional management fees.

Recently, the firm disclosed they successfully secured $782 million in funding from a convertible debt transaction, carrying an interest rate of 0.625%. Notably, they expressed their plans to use these funds towards purchasing more Bitcoin.

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2024-04-20 11:18