Bitcoin Maverick Michael Saylor Drops CEO Role At MicroStrategy After Reporting $1 Billion Loss

One of the biggest Bitcoin proponents Michael Saylor has stepped down from the position of CEO of his business intelligence firm MicroStrategy. The announcement came on Tuesday, August 2, as the company reported a second-quarter loss of around $1 billion.
Of these, a $917.8 million loss was in the form of impairment charges due to the decline in the price of Bitcoin. As of June 30, MicroStrategy reported that they were holding 129,699 Bitcoins worth $1.988 billion. The company has been accumulating Bitcoins since the summer of 2020.
However, Saylor will now serve as the executive chairman of MicroStrategy. He said that he will now put his exclusive focus on hoarding cryptocurrencies. In a statement on Tuesday, Saylor said:
“As Executive Chairman I will be able to focus more on our bitcoin acquisition strategy and related bitcoin advocacy initiatives, while Phong will be empowered as CEO to manage overall corporate operations.”
Short Bets On MicroStrategy Surge
Following the Bitcoin correction this year, the stock of MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) has come under severe pressure. Although crypto proponents have been backing Saylor’s Bitcoin bet, some Wall Street analysts don’t see it as a strong move for a public listed company.
As per the latest Bloomberg report, short bets on MicroStrategy have been piling up recently. The MSTR stock has seen a partial rebound along with the BTC price last month in July. However, some skeptics believe that this could quickly flame out. As per the Bloomberg report,
“A record 51% of MicroStrategy’s available shares are currently sold short, carrying a notional value of $1.35 billion, according to financial analytics firm S3 Partners. The all-time high of 4.73 million shares shorted has soared by 1.2 million shares over the past 30 days alone, S3 says”.
However, if the BTC price manages to recover from here, it could also drive the MSTR stock price higher. As of press time, Bitcoin is trading at $22,865 with a market cap of $436 billion.
- CEA Industries’ BNB Holdings Reach 480K as Binance Coin Hits New ATH of $1,300
- Peter Brandt Predicts XRP Could Drop to $2.2 If This Happens
- Fed’s Stephen Miran Says He’s ‘Sanguine’ on Inflation Outlook as He Backs More Rate Cuts
- S&P Launches Crypto 50 Index But There’s A Catch
- NYSE Owner ICE to Invest $2B in Polymarket as Interest in Prediction Markets Heats Up
- ASTER vs HYPE Price Analysis – Which Perp DEX Token Looks Poised to Dominate Q4 Performance?
- Ethereum Price Could Soar to $6,500 as BlackRock’s ETF Nears $20B Milestone
- Cardano Price Consolidates Below Key Resistance Ahead of ETF Verdict — Is a 50% Rally in Sight?
- Solana Price Eyes 56% Rebound Amid Solana Company’s Massive $530M SOL Acquisition
- Ethereum’s Price Bullish Cycle Resumes as Grayscale Launches Spot Staking ETPs – Is $7,331 Next?
- Pi Network Price Risky Pattern Points to Crash as 14M Coins Leave OKX