It would henceforth reinvent itself as a hybrid that combined its traditional franchise and an arm that specializes in accumulating Bitcoin as a business, based on the conviction that its value will rise substantially over time, and that using the software cash flows and borrowing to buy Bitcoin could boost MicroStrategys stock much faster than reinvesting in the core business, buying back stock, or making acquisitions. Still, one thing is certain about Saylor: He has come out on top of critics before. In a statement, Saylor attested that the new job will enable him to focus on our Bitcoin acquisition strategy and related Bitcoin advocacy initiatives. (Given that Saylor controls the voting stock, and will stay on executive chairman, its certain the decision was his, though the company did not respond to several requests for interviews with Saylor.) from his hip, exuding eccentric billionaire chic. It all started with an innocuous tweet. For two decades, Saylor ran his brainchild in a workmanlike fashion, more or less from the shadows. were in light summer dresses or suits. Waiters The company has two classes of stock, and Saylors ownership of B shares that carry 10 votes versus one for the class A give him 64% of the votes, though he owns just one-fifth of the total shares. as the worlds population moves toward massive ownership of 1 Saylor has. The 86-year-old mansion , dubbed Villa Vecchia, boasts 13 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms spread across 18,006 square feet, according to property records. The S&P 500 Stock Index is a widely recognized capitalization-weighted index of 500 common stock prices in U.S. companies. Watch highlights from the webcast by clicking here. Saylor took the party to NYC the next night, where Courtney Love sang a few songs on stage for the guests. TLDR: Michael Saylor is not Roger Ver. 20, 2000, MicroStrategy rocked the markets by announcing that its auditors, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, required their client to radically restate revenues and profits for the previous two years. Saylor has also leveraged MicroStrategy so heavily that if the price of Bitcoin drops, it will lack the cash to repay big chunks of debt that could come due as early as 2025. If you liked the article, please follow us: This enables Disqus, Inc. to process some of your data. Turn on Not now. We must believe Saylor, and his 3,000 employees at Saylors reputation as an executive may be surpassed by his reputation for hosting blowout parties and intimate getaways, from St. Tropez to St. Barts to his sprawling Florida mansion. In the muddling scenario, the math takes precedence, Saylors Pied Piper appeal evaporates, and MicroStrategys stock takes a deep dive. Ensconced in a $10,000-a-night three-story rooftop suite at Manhattans Palace Hotel, he found his attention captured by something else entirely: the suites private elevator. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. . Of the six analysts providing 12-month price forecasts for MicroStrategy, two are pessimistic, predicting a drop to between $180 and $250; two reckon the stock have maxed out that the current $300-plus; and two see room for big increases, with BTIG Research expecting a jump to $950. Many agree that Saylor is something of a visionary. Unlike traditional currencies such as dollars, bitcoins are issued and managed without any central authority whatsoever: there is no government, company, or bank in charge of Bitcoin. First of all, Saylor believes the word cryptocurrency is a misnomer when applied to Bitcoin. Rickertsens dining room. this book hes right on.. To make both payments, MicroStrategy would need $1.05 billion in liquidity. I happen to think an argument can also be made for Ether, as the Ethereum network is the foundation upon which decentralized finance (DeFi) applications are built, but there are many people who agree with Saylor that Bitcoin is the only investible crypto. He went to MIT on an ROTC scholarship, studying the history of technology, aeronautics, and astronautics. 2004-2023 All rights reserved. They want the company to resume quarterly conference calls and other communication with investors. Winning a $10 million contract from McDonalds to develop applications for analyzing the effectiveness of its promotions furnished an early boost. However, one shouldn't automatically mirror Saylor's sentiment on Bitcoin, just as one shouldn't blindly buy Coca-Cola stock just because Buffett owns it. Standard editorial rights. Saylor himself has gone decked out in leather,. The investment thesis for Bitcoin appears intact. Gold is near its all-time high, while Bitcoin is far from it. And as Saylor points out, theyre both self-sovereign bearer assets, not subject to monetary debasement. Instead, hes stuck with loads of debt that bought super-volatile Bitcoin that could become worth a lot less than the debt.. years. Still, it remained a durable survivor. To build its cache, MicroStrategy has borrowed the equivalent of three times its entire base of shareholders equity when the adventure began. Golds constancy never had anything to do with scarcity; rather it was a stock versus flow play. Archived post. Second, it's decentralized, independent of central control like the U.S. financial system, which is dominated by the Federal Reserve. In interviews with four former managers, none of whom would comment publicly out of concerns for possible repercussions, they describe a company dominated by a single personality one that both friends and critics of Saylor admit can be difficult to navigate. MSTR There are no shortage of critics predicting Saylors experiment will end in grief. Think about it. Few people can pull out all the stops the way Microstrategy billionaireMichael Saylor does whenever he throws his parties.which happen several times a year, not just on his birthday. Others describe Saylor as a friend who is generous with his wealth, a visionary who spots nascent technology trends and an executive with exacting expectations for employees. The throat-clearing that you just endured is a useful way of getting to Michael Saylor, the brilliant founder of MicroStrategy MSTR -0.4%. He leaves a mark on anyone who works with him, says a departed manager. Saylor himself famously lost $6 billion in a single day. Saylors selling style relied on passion, stagecraft, and a lofty vision, not numbers. Privacy Policy. Close. Close. Pictures on the Villa Vecchia Facebook page which is administered by Saylor and counts more than 2,000 likes show the home lit up in purple and pink lights for a 2013 New Years Eve party. his 18-year-old mind lit up in the class of engineering professor Despite the violent ups and downs, hes been right some of the time. Effective 8/31/2018, Frank Holmes serves as the interim executive chairman of HIVE. The obvious corollary to a more stable dollar would be even greater circulation globally. he echoed many of the same thoughts, and put special emphasis on the Cookies Policy lawn. Instead, look at it as a prompt to revisit your investment thesis. As such, it is more resistant to wild inflation and corrupt banks. Investors who are new to crypto should be aware that this asset class is still very volatile. Its all a reminder of just how misleading scarcity can be. The danger is that by putting its assets in harms way, and undermining its formerly profitable core business, he destroys immense value for his shareholders. Register to Vote. Regardless of his location (in the office, at home or on the road), as chief operational executive, he actively oversees the companys efforts in our global marketplace.. Keep in mind that right now, its Bitcoin strongbox is worth just $700 million or so more than its debt. But on Mar. If you doubt this, visit shops in the countries mentioned with the local currency and with dollars, See which currency actually commands resources. Michael Saylor's Book Party Includes a Master Class on the Tech Future (Pictures) The MicroStrategy CEO schooled guests on where technology is headed at a party for his first book, "The Mobile Wave." Written by Carol Ross Joynt | Published on June 29, 2012 Tweet Share "The Mobile Wave" book party. Back in January we reported that the cast of the upcoming Entourage movie was filming some wild party scenes with topless models in Miami aboard the impressive $30 millionUsher superyacht. Obviously not. They do like to go big, said Allison Priebe Brooks, a friend. Vote by Mail. As short-seller Ballentine points out, clients know that if MicroStrategy loses any substantial amount of business, it wont be able to cover its interest payments without selling Bitcoin, something Saylor swears will never happen. Over the past two years he has essentially bet his entire $500 million revenue company on the future of Bitcoin. Saylor shared Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamotos view that central banks will inevitably debase fiat currencies. In addition, he floated a $1 billion equity offering in February of 2021, and plowed all the proceeds into Bitcoin. In this case, it was a very powerful bear Washington, DC Attorney General Karl Racine suing the. They had nothing to do with selling analytic software to Fortune 100 companies., Saylor once sent a memo to management with plans to change the companys name to Strategy because the moniker was 100 times more recognizable and would fit better on buildings, said one former manager. Its stock consistently posts increases that far outstrip the dollar gains for the Bitcoin holdings: On June 16, with Bitcoin selling at around $20,300, MicroStrategys shares traded at $161, and its market cap stood at $1.8 billion. Where it gets interesting is that the Swiss franc is one of the worlds most circulated currencies, while the Argentine peso isnt even the currency of choice in Argentina. Michael Saylor @saylor Please join the @MicroStrategy management team at 5pm ET as we discuss our Q2 2022 financial results, executive transition, and answer questions about our business and outlook for #BusinessIntelligence and #Bitcoin. There isnt any other major industry that uses more sustainable energy than Bitcoin, Saylor says. Now THAT is how you celebrate a birthday. Retailers deploy MicroStrategys analytics to find the responses reps use at contact centers that best help customers and shorten calls. More recently, Saylor hosted a massive halloween bash to benefit Miamis Little Lighthouse Foundation. How could it be? Create a new list. All Rights Reserved. Gold and Bitcoin have obvious differencesone is physical whereas the other is digital; one has been around for millennia whereas the other wouldnt legally be able to drink if it were a personbut they share some important similarities that might appeal to the same investors. By the close, Saylors stake reached $540 million. I cant imagine that the uncertainty of holding all that Bitcoin can be good for the underlying business, says Ryan Ballentine of Bireme Capital, whos shorting MicroStrategy shares. Justin Pope has positions in Bitcoin. Did Wall Street cheer because the bedrock software business will fare far better when Saylor, distracted by Bitcoin, isnt running things day-to-day? Put simply, Saylor is insuring himself, his board, and his executives against shareholder suits because the carriers who usually provide comprehensive coverage consider it too risky. Gold and S&P 500 stocks are the least volatile with standard deviations of 1% over one trading day and 3% over three days. Bitcoin has easily outpaced the S&P 500despite the coin's dramatic decline in 2022. Gold producers could similarly use blockchain to validate their metals authenticity and assure potential buyers it was not produced using child labor. Although investors should make their own decisions, there's no denying the influence that well-known investors such as Warren Buffett can have on a stock's sentiment. Saylor is arguably the Buffett equivalent to Bitcoin investors, and his latest $150 million investment is a vote of confidence if anything. Everyone [in Washington] seems to be somewhat restrained, but not Michael and not the crew he runs with. The Bitcoin legend Max Keiser is joined by Michael Saylor, dubbed "Gigachad" by the pleb community, in this Bitcoin 2021 Fireside. Standard deviation is also known as historical volatility. Gold is not scarce. They arent The restatements for 1998 and 1999 took MicroStrategy from a previously reported $28 million gain from operations to a $37 million loss. Thomas Heath is a local business reporter and columnist, writing about entrepreneurs and various companies big and small in the Washington metropolitan area. Follow. About Community Outreach; Countywide Student Voter Registration Drive; . For a man whose public persona is unapologetically extravagant, Saylor remains comparatively quiet about his day-to-day functions as a chief executive. Among Saylors most infamous parties is his annual Rocktoberfest, a pre-Halloween bash featuring dueling bands and guests dressed as rock stars. But we didn't come to argue, especially in the elegant Georgetown home of Saylor's pal and board member Rick Rickertsen, who hosted the party Thursday. But by hitching himself to Bitcoin, hes staked his companys future on a wildly volatile speculative vehicle. To be sure, MicroStrategy never achieved tech superstardom. Around half of its shares are currently sold short, a record for this longstanding target for shorts. The management team had a hard time squaring current cash flow ideas with Michaels ideas. His two multimillion dollar yachts, Usher and Harle, dock out front. In another Frank Talk, I argue that both assets fit the definitions of money. As a teenager growing up near the Wright-Patterson base in Dayton, Ohio, Saylor learned to fly gliders and finished first in his high school class. So what happened to the Blackberry? First, its interest costs wipe out the free cash flow from the software business, after subtracting the cost of options grants. Here are ten fast facts about this multimillionaire you should know: 1. Following the IPO in June 1998, MicroStrategy dazzled Wall Street to shine as a darling of the dotcom frenzy. In the early 2010s, Saylor developed one of the first automated voice response systems for contact centers, a cloud-based service called Angel. Instead, in his trademark high-pitched delivery, Saylor argues that the world is on the verge of an economic cataclysm, and that Bitcoin represents a haven of stability. Really, who would provide real goods and services for paper thats so routinely in decline? Saylor suggests we should think of Bitcoin in this way. Local business reporter and columnist, writing about entrepreneurs and companies in the Washington metropolitan area, Michael Saylor, chief executive of Microstrategy. He will be executive chairman of the software firm, focusing solely on Bitcoin. technology, said Saylor when we talked for half an hour in MicroStrategy became central to the social networks infrastructure, providing such functions as informing salespeople how much revenue each produces, according to a 2012 Fortune story by David Caplan. Usher, which had been available for charter at $225,000 per week, is a high performance motor yacht built by the renowned Delta Marine shipyard in 2007. He sold it to private equity investors in 2008 for $28 million. MicroStrategy bought 6,455 bitcoins for about $150 million in the last . and for the most part they are of a type: a friends home, Saylor notably offered use of MicroStrategys software free of charge to Facebook in anticipation that the value in its massive social network would come from data analytics. Rickertsen Genesys bought Angel in 2013 for $110 million. And thats assuming the software business generates the cash to cover its current interest so that Saylor doesnt have to start dumping coins to keep the payments current. MicroStrategy has no margin for error if profits from the basic business shrink. Still, theres more good here than bad. Saylor himself has gone decked out in leather, face paint and sleeveless shirts. ), Saylor argues that Bitcoin will reach $500,000 within a few years, and that folks should take the money they were going to give their grandchildren and convert it to Bitcoin.. (Courtesy of Microstrategy), roStrategys stock at depressed prices in recent years are now. Turn on Not now. Mr. Greengenes, a cover band that performed songs by artists including the Beatles, Limp Bizkit and Kelly Clarkson, was a staple at Saylors parties in D.C. and New York before the group parted ways last year. But that can happen when youre playing in the big league, and tech billionaire Michael Saylor wasnt afraid to risk. Now compare that to Bitcoin. According to those sources, Saylor yearns to be a renowned thought leaderto be widely admired as an intellectual powerhouse, in the words of one departed employee. The company was a pioneer in an important new field: enterprise analytics, software programs that enable retailers, pharma giants, banks, insurers, and government agencies to spot key trends by parsing vast streams of data. 3. He would have been a lot better off buying all of his Bitcoin with overpriced stock. I think there are 115 million people [using] Bitcoin right now, Saylor says, and were adding 2 million users a week. Name another investment asset with that type of growth. If MicroStrategy muddles along, the crypto-insanity premium goes away, says Ballentine. The MicroStrategy CEO is perhaps best known for losing $6 billion in a single day during. ESG (environmental, social and governance) can no longer be considered a fad. GOP Scores Early 2024 Win: N.C. Ruling Likely Hands Party More House Seats . But Saylor is personally indemnifying the directors and officers for another $10 million over and above claims paid by the carriers. Holdings are reported as of the most recent quarter-end. D.C., sued the analytics firm MicroStrategy and its former billionaire co-founder Michael Saylor on Wednesday . There is ample precedent where successful technology company founders among them Bill Gates at Microsoft and Sergey Brin at Google made a natural progression into these types of roles.. (Tesla sold most of its Bitcoin holdings in Q2, and retains just one-quarter of its original purchases. Many of the men took off their jackets; the women Its also paying $46 million a year in interest on those borrowings. He also has a $47 million Bombardier jet and two yachts. For its first report, the group surveyed about 30% of the worldwide network and found that the energy used by miners was about 68% renewable. And Theyre Really, Really Not Happy About It. But if the price settles at below $20,000, by that point it could owe more than the value of the coins on its books. Third, what happens if MicroStrategy just bumps along much as its doing now? wrote the book because of his intellectual interest in science. At MIT It IPOd last December, and now carries a market cap of $2.8 billion. But the covenants on the 2028 senior notes stipulate that if the company doesnt have the full $650 million in cash available to pay off the 2025 offering when it comes due, the maturity on the $500 bond jumps to 2025, and is payable ahead of the $650 million bond.