Michael J. Saylor

Last updated
Michael Saylor
Michael Saylor 2022.png
Saylor in 2022
Born (1965-02-04) 4 February 1965 (age 59)
Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.
Alma mater Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BSc)
OccupationExecutive chairman of MicroStrategy [1]
Notable work The Mobile Wave

Michael J. Saylor (born February 4, 1965) is an American entrepreneur and business executive. He is the executive chairman and co-founder of MicroStrategy, a company that provides business intelligence, mobile software, and cloud-based services.

Contents

Saylor was MicroStrategy's chief executive officer from 1989 to 2022. In 2000, Saylor was charged by the SEC with fraudulently reporting MicroStrategy's financial results for the preceding two years. He later reached a settlement with the SEC for $350,000 in penalties and $8.3 million in personal disgorgement.

Saylor is a bitcoin advocate and under Saylor MicroStrategy has spent billions of dollars to purchase over a hundred-thousand bitcoin. In 2024, he paid a $40 million fine to settle a tax fraud suit. He authored the 2012 book The Mobile Wave: How Mobile Intelligence Will Change Everything. He is also the sole trustee of Saylor Academy, a provider of free online education.

Early life and education

Saylor was born in Lincoln, Nebraska on February 4, 1965, and spent his early years on various Air Force bases around the world, as his father was an Air Force chief master sergeant. When Saylor was 11, the family settled in Fairborn, Ohio, near the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. [2] [3]

In 1983, Saylor enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on an Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) full scholarship. He joined the Theta Delta Chi fraternity, through which he met the future co-founder of MicroStrategy, Sanju Bansal. [2] [3] Saylor double majored in aeronautical & astronautical engineering and history of science. [2] [4]

A medical condition prevented him from becoming a pilot, [2] [3] and instead, he got a job with a consulting firm, The Federal Group, Inc. in 1987, where he focused on computer simulation modeling for a software integration company. [4] In 1988, Saylor became an internal consultant at DuPont, where he developed computer models to help the company anticipate change in its key markets. The simulations predicted that there would be a recession in many of DuPont's major markets in 1990. [2] [4]

As of 2016, Saylor had been granted 31 patents and had 9 additional applications under review. [5]

MicroStrategy

Using the funds from DuPont, Saylor founded MicroStrategy with Sanju Bansal, his MIT fraternity brother. [3] The company began developing software for data mining, then focused on software for business intelligence. In 1992, MicroStrategy won a $10 million contract with McDonald's to develop applications to analyze the efficiency of its promotions. The contract with McDonald's led Saylor to realize that his company could create business intelligence software that would allow companies to use their data for insights into their businesses. [3] [4] [2] [6] [7]

Saylor took the company public in June 1998, with an initial stock offering of 4 million shares priced at $12 each. [8] The stock price doubled on the first day of trading. [9] By early 2000, Saylor's net worth reached $7 billion, and the Washingtonian reported that he was the wealthiest man in the Washington D.C. area. [2]

In 1996, Saylor was named KPMG "Washington High-Tech Entrepreneur of the Year". [4] [10] In 1997, Ernst & Young named Saylor its "Software Entrepreneur of the Year", and the following year, Red Herring Magazine listed him as one of its "Top 10 Entrepreneurs for 1998". [11] Saylor was also listed by the MIT Technology Review as an "Innovator Under 35" in 1999. [12]

After his leadership was criticized by several major investors in 2014, Saylor has since opted for a symbolic one-dollar salary without any cash bonuses, but with stock options. [13] According to Bloomberg, Saylor exercised those option for around $400 million in the first quarter of 2024. [14]

On August 8, 2022, Saylor assumed the title of executive chairman of MicroStrategy and appointed Phong Le, the company's president, to succeed him as CEO. Saylor said in a press release, "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." [15]

As of November 2024, he owns 19,998,580 shares (Class B common stock), about 9.9% of the total outstanding shares, and has approximately 45% of the voting power. This increase in shares is mainly due to a MSTR stock split on August 8th 2024 at a 10:1 ratio for both class A and B shares. [16]

Bitcoin advocacy

Saylor is an advocate of Bitcoin, stating that he believes it will displace gold as a non-governmental store of value. [17] Saylor has said that "capital preservation" is Bitcoin's utility and compares buying it to buying a home in a city everyone wants to move to. According to Saylor, Bitcoin is "the apex property of the human race." [18]

On MicroStrategy's quarterly earnings conference call in July 2020, Saylor announced his intention for MicroStrategy to explore purchasing Bitcoin, gold, or other alternative assets instead of holding cash. The following month, MicroStrategy used $250 million from its cash stockpile to purchase 21,454 Bitcoin. [19]

MicroStrategy later added $175 million of Bitcoin to its holdings in September 2020 and another $50 million in early December 2020. On December 11, 2020, MicroStrategy announced that it had sold $650 million in convertible senior notes, taking on debt to increase its Bitcoin holdings to over $1 billion worth. On December 21, 2020, MicroStrategy announced their total holdings include 70,470 bitcoins purchased for $1.125 billion at an average price of $15,964 per bitcoin. [20] As of September 20, 2024 holdings include 252,220 bitcoins acquired for $9.9 billion at an average price of $39,266 per bitcoin. [21]

Political views

COVID-19 response criticism

In a 3,000-word memo to all MicroStrategy employees on March 16, 2020, entitled "My Thoughts on COVID-19," Saylor criticized countermeasures then being recommended against the disease, saying that it is "soul-stealing and debillitating [sic] to embrace the notion of social distancing & economic hibernation" and predicting that in the worst-case scenario, global life expectancy would only "click down by a few weeks." Saylor also refused to close MicroStrategy's offices unless he was legally required to do so. The full content of the memo appeared on Reddit for only a few minutes and was reposted in the Washington Business Journal . [22] [23]

The Mobile Wave

In June 2012, Saylor released The Mobile Wave: How Mobile Intelligence Will Change Everything , published by Perseus Books, which discusses trends in mobile technology and their future impact on commerce, healthcare, education, and the developing world. [24] The book appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list, where it was ranked number seven in hardcover non-fiction books in August 2012, [25] and was ranked number five in hardcover business books on the Wall Street Journal's Best-Sellers list in July 2012. [26]

Saylor Academy

In 1999, Saylor established The Saylor Foundation (later named Saylor Academy), of which he is the sole trustee. Saylor.org was launched in 2008 as the free education initiative of The Saylor Foundation. [27]

Awards and Recognition

Saylor has received several awards and recognition throughout his career. In 1996, he was named KPMG High Tech Entrepreneur of the Year. [4] His leadership at MicroStrategy earned him a spot-on Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year list in 1997. [28] Additionally, Saylor has been featured in various industry publications and lists, recognizing his influence and impact on the tech industry and digital currency advocacy. [10] [11] [12]

Controversies

SEC investigation

In March 2000, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought charges against Saylor and two other MicroStrategy executives for the company's inaccurate reporting of financial results for the preceding two years. [29] In December 2000, Saylor settled with the SEC without admitting wrongdoing by paying $350,000 in penalties and a personal disgorgement of $8.3 million. [30] [31] [32] As a result of the restatement of results, the company's stock declined in value and Saylor's net worth fell by $6 billion. [33] [34]

District of Columbia tax fraud lawsuit

On August 31, 2022, the Attorney General for the District of Columbia sued Saylor for tax fraud, accusing him of illegally avoiding more than $25 million in D.C. taxes by pretending to be a resident of other jurisdictions during the years 2005 to 2021. He initially claimed he resided in Virginia during the period, then later claimed that he resided in Florida. [35] MicroStrategy was accused of collaborating with Saylor to facilitate his tax evasion by misreporting his residential address to local and federal tax authorities and failing to withhold D.C. taxes. [36] Saylor issued a statement saying: "I respectfully disagree with the position of the District of Columbia and look forward to a fair resolution in the courts." [37] In June 2024, Saylor settled the tax dispute by agreeing to pay a $40 million fine. [35]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Dell</span> American business magnate

Michael Saul Dell is an American billionaire businessman and investor. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Dell Technologies, one of the world's largest technology infrastructure companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fidelity Investments</span> American multinational financial services corporation

Fidelity Investments, formerly known as Fidelity Management & Research (FMR), is an American multinational financial services corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1946, the company is one of the largest asset managers in the world, with $5.8 trillion in assets under management, and $15.0 trillion in assets under administration, as of September 2024, Fidelity Investments operates a brokerage firm, manages a large family of mutual funds, provides fund distribution and investment advice, retirement services, index funds, wealth management, securities execution and clearance, asset custody, and life insurance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadcom Corporation</span> Defunct American fabless semiconductor company

Broadcom Corporation was an American fabless semiconductor company that made products for the wireless and broadband communication industry. It was acquired by Avago Technologies for $37 billion in 2016 and currently operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of the merged entity Broadcom Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masayoshi Son</span> Japanese entrepreneur (born 1957)

Masayoshi Son is a Japanese billionaire technology entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. A third-generation Zainichi Korean, he naturalized as a Japanese citizen in 1990. He is the founder, representative director, corporate officer, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. (SBG), a technology-focused investment holding company, as well as chairman of UK-based Arm Holdings.

MicroStrategy Incorporated is an American development company that provides business intelligence (BI), mobile software, and cloud-based services. Founded in 1989 by Michael J. Saylor, Sanju Bansal, and Thomas Spahr, the firm develops software to analyze internal and external data in order to make business decisions and to develop mobile apps. It is a public company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia, in the Washington metropolitan area. Its primary business analytics competitors include SAP AG Business Objects, IBM Cognos, and Oracle Corporation's BI Platform. Saylor is the Executive Chairman and, from 1989 to 2022, was the CEO.

Beyond, Inc. is an American online retailer headquartered in Midvale, Utah. Previously known as Overstock.com, Inc., the company acquired and adopted the name of bankrupt big-box retailer Bed Bath & Beyond in 2023. The company sells home decor, furniture, bedding, and many other goods that are closeout merchandise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">InfoSpace</span> American company

Infospace, Inc. was an American company that offered private label search engine, online directory, and provider of metadata feeds. The company's flagship metasearch site was Dogpile and its other notable consumer brands were WebCrawler and MetaCrawler. After a 2012 rename to Blucora, the InfoSpace business unit was sold to data management company OpenMail.

Avnet, Inc. is a distributor of electronic components headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, named after Charles Avnet, who founded the company in 1921. After its start on Manhattan's Radio Row, the company became incorporated in 1955 and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1961. On May 8, 2018, Avnet changed stock markets to Nasdaq, trading under the same ticker AVT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Draper</span> American businessman

Timothy Cook Draper is an American venture capital investor, and founder of Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), Draper University, Draper Venture Network, and Draper Associates. Since 2019, he is a partner in Draper Goren Holm. His most prominent investments include Baidu, Hotmail, Skype, Tesla, SpaceX, AngelList, SolarCity, Ring, Twitter, DocuSign, Coinbase, Robinhood, Ancestry.com, Twitch, Cruise Automation, PrettyLitter and Focus Media. In July 2014, Draper received wide coverage for his purchase at a US Marshals Service auction of seized bitcoins from the Silk Road website. Draper is a proponent of bitcoin and decentralization. Draper was one of the first investors in Theranos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Gensler</span> American banker (born 1957)

Gary S. Gensler is an American government official and former investment banker serving as the chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Gensler previously worked for Goldman Sachs and has led the Biden–Harris transition's Federal Reserve, Banking, and Securities Regulators agency review team. Prior to his appointment, he was professor of Practice of Global Economics and Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

A one-dollar salary is a practice used when a business executive or government employee wishes to work without direct compensation, but must receive a salary above zero to legally distinguish them from a volunteer. The concept first emerged in the early 1900s, when various American leaders of industry offered their services to the government during times of war. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, many executives began accepting one-dollar salaries—often in the case of struggling companies or startups—with the potential for further indirect earnings as the result of stock ownership. Many choose to reduce their salary to avoid income taxes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Dorsey</span> American internet entrepreneur, cofounder and ex-CEO of Twitter (born 1976)

Jack Patrick Dorsey is an American Internet entrepreneur, philanthropist, and programmer, who is a co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, Inc. from 2015 until 2021, as well as co-founder, principal executive officer and chairman of Block, Inc., which is the developer of the Square financial services platform. As of October 2023, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $3.1 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Block, Inc.</span> American financial services company

Block, Inc. is an American technology company offering financial services to consumers and businesses. Founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey, it leads the U.S. point-of-sale systems market. As of 2023, Block serves 56 million users and 4 million businesses, processing $228 billion in payments annually.

New Relic, Inc. is an American web tracking and analytics company based in San Francisco. The company's cloud-based software allows websites and mobile apps to track user interactions and service operators' software and hardware performance.

Sanju K. Bansal is an Indian-American businessman, the co-founder of MicroStrategy, a worldwide provider of enterprise software platforms for business intelligence (BI), mobile software, big data and cloud-based services. He served as the company's vice chairman of the board of directors and executive vice president till November 14, 2013. From 1993-2012, he served as chief operating officer of MicroStrategy. Bansal serves or has served as a member of the board of directors of CSRA, a technology services provider to the US government, Cvent, a cloud-based event management software provider, and The Advisory Board Company, a technology research services company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robinhood Markets</span> US-based financial services company

Robinhood Markets, Inc. is an American financial services company headquartered in Menlo Park, California. The company provides an electronic trading platform accessible via mobile app that facilitates commission-free trades of stocks, exchange-traded funds and cryptocurrency, as well as cryptocurrency wallets, credit cards and other banking services. The company's revenue comes from transaction-based revenues, net interest income, and subscription fees. The company has 24.3 million funded customers, 11.0 million monthly active users, and $152 billion in assets under custody.

Kraken is a United States–based cryptocurrency exchange, founded in 2011. It was one of the first bitcoin exchanges to be listed on Bloomberg Terminal and was valued at US$3 billion in January 2024. The company has been the subject of several regulatory investigations since 2018, and has agreed to cumulative fines of over $30 million.

Toast, Inc. is an American cloud-based restaurant management software company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company provides an all-in-one point of sale (POS) system built on the Android operating system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abra (company)</span> Financial services and technology company

Abra is a digital asset services company with offices in several countries. The company's extensive service offering includes: Abra Private, an SEC registered investment advisory service focused on high net worth investors and family offices looking to invest in digital assets or borrow against digital asset holdings; Abra Prime, a prime broker for digital asset trading, lending and derivatives; and, Abra Treasury, a service for companies to add Bitcoin and digital assets to their corporate treasury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vlad Tenev</span> Bulgaria-born American entrepreneur

Vladimir Tenev is a Bulgarian-American entrepreneur who is the co-founder and CEO of Robinhood, a US-based financial technology services company.

References

  1. ↑ "Leadership". microstrategy.com. MicroStrategy. 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Jaffe, Harry (1 March 2000). "The Seven Billion Dollar Man". The Washingtonian. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Leibovich, Mark (6 January 2002). "MicroStrategy's CEO Sped to the Brink". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Glasser, Jeff (15 July 1996). "From the Ground Up and Up". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on 31 August 2000. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  5. ↑ "Patents by Inventor Michael J. Saylor". Justia.com. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  6. ↑ Salter, Chuck (31 March 2000). "People and Technology – MicroStrategy Inc". Fast Company. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  7. ↑ Stewart Alsop (8 September 1997). "Now I know how a real visionary sounds". CNNMoney.com. CNN. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  8. ↑ "Initial Public Offerings Key Data". NASDAQ. 11 June 1998. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  9. ↑ Mark Leibovitch (9 August 1998). "A Journey Into the Secret Heart of Capitalism". Washington Post. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  10. 1 2 Stan Hinden (6 July 1998). "Transforming information into another public utility". New Straits Times. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  11. 1 2 "Michael Saylor". The Washington Post. 21 June 2000. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  12. 1 2 "Michael J. Saylor, 34". MIT Technology Review. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  13. ↑ Heath, Thomas (September 8, 2014). "MicroStrategy CEO reduces pay to $1 from $875,000 following criticism of stewardship". The Washington Post.
  14. ↑ Kharif, Olga; Contiliano, Tom (April 24, 2024). "MicroStrategy's Saylor Reaps a Stock Windfall During Bitcoin's Record Run" . Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 29 April 2024.
  15. ↑ Sigalos, MacKenzie (August 2, 2022). "MicroStrategy CEO Saylor moves to chairman role, focusing on strategy and bitcoin". CNBC. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
  16. ↑ name="Fintel-2024-11-22">SEC Filing, Fintel Research (November 22, 2024). "MicroStrategy CEO Saylor Institutional Ownership". Fintel. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  17. ↑ "Michael Saylor: Bitcoin to Replace Gold This Decade". FXEmpire . 2021-11-19. Retrieved 2024-01-14– via Yahoo Finance.
  18. ↑ "Bitcoin is the best investment asset: Michael Saylor". Yahoo Finance. 2024-03-12. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  19. ↑ Medici, Andy (11 August 2020). "MicroStrategy buys $250M in Bitcoin as CEO says it's superior to cash". Washington Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  20. ↑ "MicroStrategy Announces Over $1B in Total Bitcoin Purchases in 2020". MicroStrategy. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  21. ↑ "MicroStrategy Acquires Additional 19,452 Bitcoins for $1.026 Billion". MicroStrategy. Retrieved 2024-09-20.
  22. ↑ Medici, Andy (19 March 2020). "MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor questions 'dizzying' national response to coronavirus outbreak in lengthy staff email". Washington Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  23. ↑ Wong, Julia Carrie; Strauss, Daniel (18 March 2020). "The tech execs who don't agree with 'soul-stealing' coronavirus safety measures". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  24. ↑ Ross Joynt, Carol (27 June 2012). "MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor's "The Mobile Wave" Examines the Implications of Mobile Technology". The Washingtonian. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  25. ↑ "Best Sellers — Hardcover Nonfiction". The New York Times. 5 August 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  26. ↑ "Best-Selling Books, Week Ended July 15". The Wall Street Journal. 20 July 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  27. ↑ "About the Saylor Foundation". saylor.org. Saylor Foundation. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  28. ↑ "Michael Saylor: Michael Saylor Net Worth, Biography, Age, Spouse, Children & More". Goodreturns. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  29. ↑ David S. Hilzenrath (14 April 2000). "SEC Investigating MicroStrategy". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  30. ↑ Debra Lau (18 December 2000). "Forbes Faces: Michael Saylor". Forbes.com. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  31. ↑ David S. Hilzenrath (15 December 2000). "Saylor, Associates Settle Fraud Charges". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  32. ↑ "SEC Brings Civil Charges Against MicroStrategyand Three Executive Officers for Accounting Violations". sec.gov. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 14 December 2000. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  33. ↑ Plotz, David (23 March 2000). "Michael Saylor MicroStrategy's cult leader". Slate. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  34. ↑ Yang, Catherine (8 February 2004). "MicroStrategy's Second Wind". Businessweek.com. Bloomberg. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  35. 1 2 Laris, Michael (3 June 2024). "Bitcoin billionaire, firm to settle D.C. tax fraud suit for $40 million". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286. Archived from the original on 12 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  36. ↑ "AG Racine Sues DC-Based Billionaire Michael Saylor & Software Company Microstrategy for Evading More Than $25 Million in District Taxes". oag.dc.gov. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  37. ↑ Feiner, Lauren (31 August 2022). "MicroStrategy Chair Michael Saylor accused of evading $25 million in taxes by DC attorney general". CNBC.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.