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Michael Saylor Quits as MicroStrategy CEO After Bitcoin Losses

28 points by mistersquid 4y ago

SilverBirch 4y ago
This is just such a weird move. MSTR is a boring software business that makes decent money but hasn't done anything interesting in a while. On the side of that Saylor has gone "Let's put all our money on red". On the one hand, it kind of makes sense for someone else to run the actual business - because clearly Saylor is not interested in that. But that should've been a decision they made when they went all in on BTC. It's a bit ridiculous to wait for BTC to tank and then go "Hey, we should really review Michaels role". No. You made the decision when you put it all on red. There's no point bailing now. A while ago I decided to download the data for the daily closing price MSTR and the closing price of BTC. The correlation is basically 1. No one holds MSTR now unless they want pretty pure exposure to BTC. So do what your shareholders want. White knuckle bitcoin until you're all bust. The only real mistake I would say Saylor made is starting to use leverage. Do not use leverage to buy incredibly risky product. But other than that, go ahead.
- anecdotal1 4y ago
  Saylor isn't bailing lol he's just leaving to focus on Bitcoin MSTR is still up over 100% from when they first bought Bitcoin
  - walterbell 4y ago
    It's still early for Bitcoin. U.S. UCC is being changed to recognize digital assets, which will impact state laws, https://www.clearygottlieb.com//news-and-insights/publication-listing/ucc-digital-asset-amendments-finalized https://www.clearygottlieb.com//news-and-insights/publicatio... > Article 12 – dealing directly with the acquisition and disposition of interests (including security interests) in “controllable electronic records,” which would include Bitcoin, Ether, and a variety of other digital assets. Under Article 12 and associated amendments to Article 9, a party may perfect a security interest in certain controllable electronic records by obtaining “control” of such records.
  - llampx 4y ago
    How much is BTC up from when they bought it?
    - anecdotal1 4y ago
      Over 100%
      - frankbreetz 4y ago
        Wrong! >>MicroStrategy’s cost basis was roughly $30,700 per bitcoin[0] Bitcoin is currently around 23k. They are about a billion dollars underwater, since they have around 129,000 BTC [0]https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/12/microstrategy-shares-fall-as-software-firms-bitcoin-bet-is-underwater.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/12/microstrategy-shares-fall-as...
- aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
  > that should've been a decision they made when they went all in on BTC. It's a bit ridiculous to wait for BTC to tank and then go "Hey, we should really review Michaels role". Typical shortsightedness.
floatinglotus 4y ago
Why would any customer stick with this company when they are so clearly not focused on their products or customer success? How badly is their corporate culture polluted by this BTC initiative? I can’t imagine a worse place to work.

28 points by mistersquid 4y ago

This is just such a weird move. MSTR is a boring software business that makes decent money but hasn't done anything interesting in a while. On the side of that Saylor has gone "Let's put all our money on red". On the one hand, it kind of makes sense for someone else to run the actual business - because clearly Saylor is not interested in that. But that should've been a decision they made when they went all in on BTC. It's a bit ridiculous to wait for BTC to tank and then go "Hey, we should really review Michaels role". No. You made the decision when you put it all on red. There's no point bailing now. A while ago I decided to download the data for the daily closing price MSTR and the closing price of BTC. The correlation is basically 1. No one holds MSTR now unless they want pretty pure exposure to BTC. So do what your shareholders want. White knuckle bitcoin until you're all bust. The only real mistake I would say Saylor made is starting to use leverage. Do not use leverage to buy incredibly risky product. But other than that, go ahead.

anecdotal1 4y ago
Saylor isn't bailing lol he's just leaving to focus on Bitcoin MSTR is still up over 100% from when they first bought Bitcoin
- walterbell 4y ago
  It's still early for Bitcoin. U.S. UCC is being changed to recognize digital assets, which will impact state laws, https://www.clearygottlieb.com//news-and-insights/publication-listing/ucc-digital-asset-amendments-finalized https://www.clearygottlieb.com//news-and-insights/publicatio... > Article 12 – dealing directly with the acquisition and disposition of interests (including security interests) in “controllable electronic records,” which would include Bitcoin, Ether, and a variety of other digital assets. Under Article 12 and associated amendments to Article 9, a party may perfect a security interest in certain controllable electronic records by obtaining “control” of such records.
- llampx 4y ago
  How much is BTC up from when they bought it?
  - anecdotal1 4y ago
    Over 100%
    - frankbreetz 4y ago
      Wrong! >>MicroStrategy’s cost basis was roughly $30,700 per bitcoin[0] Bitcoin is currently around 23k. They are about a billion dollars underwater, since they have around 129,000 BTC [0]https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/12/microstrategy-shares-fall-as-software-firms-bitcoin-bet-is-underwater.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/12/microstrategy-shares-fall-as...
aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
> that should've been a decision they made when they went all in on BTC. It's a bit ridiculous to wait for BTC to tank and then go "Hey, we should really review Michaels role". Typical shortsightedness.

floatinglotus 4y ago

Why would any customer stick with this company when they are so clearly not focused on their products or customer success? How badly is their corporate culture polluted by this BTC initiative? I can’t imagine a worse place to work.