Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy and one the biggest Bitcoin advocates has handed his CEO title to his deputy.
Phong Le is the new CEO and has been the company’s president. The new changes were announced during the company’s earnings conference call on August 2.
Saylor will be the executive chairman and plans to focus his attention on hoarding cryptocurrency.
In a statement on Tuesday, Saylor said: “I believe that splitting the roles of Chairman and CEO will enable us to pursue better our two corporate strategies of acquiring and holding bitcoin and growing our enterprise analytics software business. As Executive Chairman, I can focus more on our Bitcoin acquisition strategy and related initiatives. Phong will have the authority to oversee corporate operations.
Le said that he didn’t anticipate any possible strategy changes during the earnings conference. Le mentioned that he had worked with Saylor in the past on the company strategy and Bitcoin strategy.
Le also thanked Andrew Kang, the CFO in charge of MicroStrategy’s financial division, for his positivity towards factors behind the company’s move to hold Bitcoins.
Le further stated that the new changes announced on Tuesday are designed to create time for him to run the company’s business activities while Saylor focuses on corporate strategy, innovation, and the Bitcoin strategy.
Le said that “I would like to see this as a business-as-usual transition.”
MicroStrategy was founded by Saylor in 1989 as a software development company. However, in recent years, Saylor has started to buy billions of Bitcoin using corporate funds.
The Market Crash Does Not Move Me
Saylor’s handing over his CEO job to his deputy happened when MicroStrategy witnessed massive losses in its Bitcoin bet.
On Tuesday, the business intelligence and software company announced its second quarter results. The earnings report stated that the company had an impairment charge for $917.8million on its Bitcoin holdings in Q2. This is up from $170.1million in the first quarter and $424.8million in the second quarter 2021.
MicroStrategy has been one of the most affected by the recent cryptocurrency market crash. The company currently holds approximately 130,000 Bitcoins, which is about $3 billion. This represents a significant decline for the enterprise software manufacturer. The total cost of the acquisition was $4 billion.
MicroStrategy intends to continue investing in Bitcoin despite recent crypto price drops. This Virginia-based software firm is one of several that has Bitcoin holdings. They also own automaker Tesla Inc. as well as payment company Square. Square recently rebranded itself as Block Inc.
MicroStrategy announced in January that it would continue to buy Bitcoin and hold the asset. The firm disclosed it will use excess cash flows or find other ways to raise money and continue putting them into Bitcoin.
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