Michael Saylor Will Step Down as MicroStrategy CEO

Michael Saylor is stepping down as MicroStrategy CEO.

Saylor to Step Down

MicroStrategy announced today in its earnings report that Michael Saylor will no longer be serving as its Chief Executive Officer starting August 8. Instead, Saylor will take on a new role as executive chairman. Phong Le, MicroStrategy’s president, is replacing Saylor as CEO.

Saylor remains the chairman of the board of directors and an executive officer of the company. He stated in the press release that as executive chairman, his focus will be solely on “Bitcoin acquisition strategy and related Bitcoin advocacy initiatives.” At the same time, Le will manage the company’s day-to-day operations.

Founded in 1989, Microstrategy is a software company that provides business intelligence, mobile software, and cloud-based services. Saylor had been Microstrategy’s CEO since its creation. Le, who joined the company in 2015, has served as President since July 2020. The press release credited Le with “delivering one of the [company’s] best operational and financial years” in 2021.

Microstrategy was the first publicly listed business to start acquiring Bitcoin as part of its treasury, which paved the way for other tech companies such as Tesla to add the cryptocurrency to their own balance sheets.

While Tesla sold its Bitcoin holdings in the recent market downturn, today’s earnings report indicates that as of June 30, MicroStrategy still held 129,699 Bitcoin, a sum worth approximately $2.98 billion dollars at current prices. According to the report, the company bought its Bitcoin for an average cost of $30,664 per coin; the leading cryptocurrency was trading at $23,000 at press time.

Saylor has repeatedly dispelled rumors that Microstrategy’s holdings face liquidation, stating that the company would only face complications should the price of Bitcoin drop to $3,562.

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.