MicroStrategy co-founder Saylor to sell $216 million worth of company shares

Michael Saylor, co-founder of U.S.-based business intelligence firm MicroStrategy Inc., is selling 315,000 company shares worth nearly $216 million, according to a filing on Tuesday.  

Saylor previously said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call of 2023 that he plans to use the funds to purchase more bitcoin personally, as well as to address “financial obligations.”

“I was granted a stock option in 2014 with respect to 400,000 shares, which is going to expire next April,” Saylor detailed in the call in November, adding that he plans to sell 5,000 shares per trading day between Jan. 2 and April 25.

Microstrategy shares have risen 21.65% in the past month, and closed up 8.48% at $685.15 on Tuesday.

The company continues to be the largest listed corporate holder of bitcoin. It has racked up 189,150 BTC ($8.55 billion at current prices) after its last purchase of 14,620 BTC in December. 

Bitcoin BTC +1.03% edged up 0.4% over the past 24 hours to trade at $45,182 at 9:30 a.m. Hong Kong time on Wednesday, according to The Block data . The world’s largest crypto by market capitalization surged past $45,000 — the highest level since April 2022 — on Tuesday.