MicroStrategy’s Saylor is selling US$216 million of company’s shares

MICHAEL Saylor is selling almost US$216 million worth of shares in MicroStrategy, the software company he co-founded and turned into the largest publicly traded holder of Bitcoin.

The 315,000 shares were acquired via stock options, according to a filing on Tuesday (Jan 2). A MicroStrategy spokesperson said the company previously announced a plan for Saylor to sell as much as 400,000 of stock between Jan 2 and Apr 26 this year.

MicroStrategy’s shares have surged 372 per cent in the past year and closed on Tuesday at just over US$685, the highest level since December 2021. The company has benefited from a rally in the largest digital asset driven by expectations that the US will soon allow the nation’s first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The enterprise software maker increased its total holdings of the cryptocurrency to more than US$8 billion through additional purchases last month.

Saylor has previously argued that the company will remain an attractive option to investors seeking exposure to Bitcoin even if the US approves spot Bitcoin ETFs. BLOOMBERG