MicroStrategy Chair Saylor Begins $216M Stock Sale

Michael Saylor, the executive chairman of MicroStrategy, has started selling a portion of his stock options in the company, valued at $216 million. This move was detailed in a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Saylor is set to sell 310,000 stock option awards that were given to him in 2014 and are due to expire this April.

Saylor explained his reasons for this decision during MicroStrategy’s third-quarter earnings call. He plans to sell about 5,000 shares every trading day over the next four months, provided the price meets his expectations. This approach was first mentioned in the company’s 10-Q filing, highlighting that he may sell up to 400,000 of his vested shares by April 26.

Saylor stated, “Exercising this option will allow me to address personal obligations as well as acquire additional bitcoin (BTC) to my personal account.” He also added, “I continue to be optimistic about MicroStrategy’s prospects and should note that my equity stake in the company after these sales will remain very significant.”

MicroStrategy holds a prominent position in the cryptocurrency world. As of December, the company is the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, with about 189,000 BTC in its treasury, valued at approximately $8.5 billion. Interestingly, on the day Saylor began selling his stock options, MicroStrategy’s shares rose by 8.5%, a contrast to the overall downturn in cryptocurrency-focused stocks.