Michael Saylor, CEO and founder of Microstrategy, explains how he decided the publicly traded business data firm needed to put its excess cash in bitcoin and what happened afterward. In this episode, we discuss:
- why Microstrategy decided to buy Bitcoin, and how the pandemic spurred that
- whether his previous experience with Microstrategy stock imploding after accounting irregularities were revealed had any bearing on the company's decision to buy bitcoin
- the reactions of the officers and board members to his suggestion to invest in bitcoin
- why they put all the excess cash into bitcoin as opposed to some percentage
- what parts of the bitcoin industry could be improved to better serve corporate interests
- whether Microstrategy intends to take any money off the table at the top of any future bubbles and reinvest when the price hits a new low
- whether it hurts Microstrategy that GAAP rules require the company to mark Bitcoin down to the lowest price it traded at during the quarter
- how his life has changed since Microstrategy bought bitcoin
- what he thought of Citi downgrading Microstrategy stock
- what he thinks of Renaissance Technology being the third-largest buyer of Microstrategy stock since the summer
- what will happen to Microstrategy stock in a bitcoin bear market
- whether or not there was any further conversation after his tweets with Elon Musk
- what types of companies, and how many, have been talking with him, expressing interest in buying bitcoin
- what will happen at the Bitcoin for Companies conference
- what type of bitcoin data products they are contemplating offering
- what he thinks will happen to the USD’s global reserve currency status
- what it would take for him to sell any bitcoin
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Episode links:
Michael Saylor: https://twitter.com/michael_saylor
Microstrategy: https://www.microstrategy.com/en
Bitcoin for Corporations: https://www.microstrategy.com/en/resources/events/world-2021/bitcoin-summit
Microstrategy purchases an additional $10 million in bitcoin:
https://www.microstrategy.com/content/dam/website-assets/collateral/financial-
documents/financial-document-archive/Form-8-K_jan-22-2021.pdf
Unchained interview with Saifedean Ammous:
August 11, 2020: Microstrategy adopts Bitcoin as its primary reserve asset:
August 11, 2020: Microstrategy makes tender offer to purchase up to $250 million of its common stock:
September 11, 2020: Microstrategy to purchase $60.5 million of common stock:
Plan to offer $550 million in convertible notes: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/87120/microstrategy-550m-convertible-notes-bitcoin
Microstrategy announces over $1 billion in Bitcoin purchases in 2020:
Michael Saylor’s 2013 tweet on Bitcoin: https://twitter.com/michael_saylor/status/413478389329428480?s=20
Forbes expose on unusual accounting practices by Microstrategy back in 2000: https://www.forbes.com/global/2000/0306/0305024a.html?sh=46312df01674
April 2000 profile of Michael in The New Yorker: https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/2000-04-03/flipbook/034/
SEC enforcement action against Microstrategy: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/34-43724.htm
Forbes profile after the SEC enforcement action: https://www.forbes.com/2000/12/18/1218faces.html?sh=523061e03bf9
Forbes announcing Microstrategy would restate earnings after its expose: https://www.forbes.com/2000/03/20/mu3.html?sh=21efe89d1ee6
Summary of SEC action:
Citi downgrading MSTR:
Renaissance Technologies has been third-largest buyer of Microstrategy’s stock since the summer: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/87194/renaissance-technologies-microstrategy-bitcoin
Microstrategy contemplating bitcoin data products: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/85310/microstrategy-bitcoin-data-products
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