MicroStrategy’s executive chairman, Michael Saylor, is set to sell $216 million in company shares, aiming to increase his personal bitcoin holdings. The move follows a disclosed plan for selling up to 400,000 shares over four months, as outlined in a 10b5-1 trading plan triggered by a stock option. Saylor plans to utilize the proceeds to fulfill financial obligations and acquire additional bitcoin.
MicroStrategy’s executive chairman, Michael Saylor, is strategically divesting $216 million in the company’s common stock, as revealed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Jan. 2. This move is part of Saylor’s earlier disclosed plan to sell up to 400,000 shares over four months. The Nasdaq-listed firm clarified in its November 10-Q filing that this activity is governed by a pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plan. The plan, triggered by a stock option expiring on April 30, 2024, involves daily sales of 5,000 shares, subject to a minimum price condition.
During MicroStrategy’s Q3 2023 earnings call on Nov. 2, 2023, Saylor outlined his intentions for the proceeds from this stock sale. The executive chairman emphasized his commitment to utilizing some of the funds to increase his personal bitcoin holdings. Saylor shed light on the origin of this financial move, stating, “I was granted a stock option in 2014 with respect to 400,000 shares, which is going to expire next April if I don’t exercise it by then.” He continued by highlighting his history of a nominal $1 salary and voluntarily forgoing cash bonuses. Saylor affirmed:
Exercising this option will allow me to address some financial obligations as well as to acquire additional bitcoin for my personal account.
While specific details about Saylor’s current bitcoin holdings remain undisclosed, his previous statement in October 2020 indicated ownership of 17,732 BTC. In contrast, MicroStrategy’s publicly disclosed holdings reached 189,150 bitcoin as of December 2023.