Michael Saylor – The Physics of Bitcoin (#110)
Into the Impossible With Brian Keating
Introduction
In this chapter, the host introduces Michael Saylor and delves into his engineering approach, references to thermodynamics, science fiction, and plans for an ethical will.
Michael J. Saylor is an American entrepreneur and business executive, who co-founded & leads MicroStrategy, a company that provides business intelligence, mobile software, and cloud-based services. Saylor, an MIT trained engineer, authored the 2012 book The Mobile Wave: How Mobile Intelligence Will Change Everything. He is also the sole trustee of Saylor Academy ( www.saylor.org ), a provider of free online education. As of 2016, Saylor has been granted 31 patents and has 9 additional applications under review. We covered a ton of content in this interview including ‘the physics of money’, the purpose of wealth, and Michael’s philosophy of life. You won’t want to miss his philosophy of life. To get them, please join my mailing list; just click here http://briankeating.com/mailing_list.php
On MicroStrategy’s quarterly earnings conference call in July 2020, Saylor announced his intention for MicroStrategy to explore purchasing Bitcoin, gold, or other alternative assets instead of holding cash. The following month, MicroStrategy used $250 million from its cash stockpile to purchase 21,454 Bitcoin. MicroStrategy added $175 million of Bitcoin to its holdings in September 2020 and another $50 million in early December 2020. On December 11, 2020, MicroStrategy announced that it had sold $650 million in convertible senior notes, taking on debt to increase its Bitcoin holdings to over $1 billion worth. On December 21, 2020 MicroStrategy announced their total holdings include 70,470 bitcoins purchased for $1.125 billion at an average price of $15,964 per bitcoin.
Saylor, who controls 70% of MicroStrategy’s shares, dismissed concerns by observers that the move is turning MicroStrategy into a Bitcoin investment firm or exchange-traded fund (ETF). In 1999, Saylor established The Saylor Foundation (later named Saylor Academy), of which he is the sole trustee. To support his goal of making free education available to all students,
Saylor.org was launched in 2008 as the free education initiative of The Saylor Foundation. The site now offers roughly 100 college courses that are supported by free content from universities including MIT and Carnegie Mellon University, that students can access without having to pass through an admissions process
- 00:00:00 Introduction
- 00:04:00 The story of the book cover
- 00:07:35 What’s the next (6th?) technology wave?
- 00:10:55 The next megatrend: Virtualization
- 00:18:17 Why are there ridges on coins?
- 00:19:36 Where gold comes from, and can virtual currencies replace real ones?
- 00:22:22 Why gold as a currency standar? And what sets the price of oil?
- 00:36:20 Why is blockchain is so great now? 00:40:27 The Pandemic as a catalyst.
- 00:40:57 Risk management in science and all things.
Join My Mailing List (briankeating.com) to hear his answers to the Thrilling Three Questions
- What is in his ethical will?
- What would he put on your billion-year monument?
- What advice would he give to himself as a 20-year-old to have the courage to go ‘Into the Impossible’?
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