MicroStrategy Stocks Soared 15% After Michael Saylor Stepped Down as CEO

The former Chief Executive Officer of MicroStrategy – Michael Saylor – abdicated from his post and took another role at the firm. He will serve as an Executive Chairman of the Board, particularly focused on bitcoin advocacy. The news positively impacted MicroStrategy’s shares, surging by 15% within 48 hours after the announcement.

Earlier this week, the American business intelligence corporation – MicroStrategy – disclosed some internal changes. The company’s President and former CFO – Phong Le – became the new CEO, while the previous one (Michael Saylor) took the role of Executive Chairman.
The latter argued that the amendments will make the firm stronger and continue its expansion mission. For his part, Saylor (who is an outspoken bitcoin supporter) stated he will have more time to focus on the primary cryptocurrency.
Interestingly, the disclosure boosted the price of MicroStrategy’s publicly-traded stocks. Two days ago, MSTR was trading at around $280, while at the moment of writing these lines, it is up by 15% – $320.
Bitcoin and MicroStrategy are deeply connected. The entity often distributes some of its cash balances into the asset, as its latest purchase occurred in June. Back then, it bought $10 million worth of the cryptocurrency, meaning that the whole stash increased to 129,699 BTC.
The company spent a little less than $4 billion to acquire its crypto possessions at an average price of $30,664 per coin. Considering today’s prices, it sits on approximately $1 billion in unrealized losses.
Over the past few months, rumors hinted that MicroStrategy might sell some of its holdings because of the disappointing condition of the digital asset market. Saylor rejected that option and even advised big tech companies to follow his example and enter bitcoin’s ecosystem.