Michael Saylor is one of the prominent figures in the Bitcoin community, along with Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk. Known as a " Bitcoin maximalist ," he publishes numerous posts on social media to promote Bitcoin adoption.
However, he did not owe his general notoriety to Bitcoin as he was already known as a successful entrepreneur, having created MicroStrategy. He made a lot of noise in 2020 when he decided to invest on behalf of his company in Bitcoin, which was worth around $15,000. When the price of bitcoin reached the $60,000 mark, MicroStrategy shareholders hoped for a resale which would have been beneficial for the company.
This was not the case, Michael Saylor did not sell his bitcoins and practices a perpetual purchase strategy (DCA) regardless of the market trend.
Today, he is no longer CEO of MicroStrategy but he remains very influential in the cryosphere. He is an essential figure in the bitcoin ecosystem and here is what you need to know about his background and philosophy.
Michael Saylor's Brilliant College Career
Michael Saylor was born in 1965 in Nebraska and studied at MIT ( Massachusetts Institute of Technology ), one of the world's most prestigious academic institutions. He earned two degrees there, one in aeronautics and astronautics and the other in science and technology. He had intended to become an airline pilot, but a health problem prevented him from doing so.
He had hoped to pursue a doctoral career, but a lack of funding forced him to look for work immediately after graduating. Marked by this experience, he launched the Saylor Academy in 2018, an online education platform. Today, the platform continues to offer courses and training programs and also provides funding to students in need.
After completing his studies, Saylor was hired as an internal consultant at the chemical company DuPont . There, he developed computer models to help the company anticipate changes in key markets. Simulations from these models had predicted a recession in the 90s in most of DuPont's markets.
This led Saylor to create his own company MicroStrategy, in a sector that was still innovative at that time, namely data modeling.
The creation of MicroStrategy
Micheal Saylor founded MicroStrategy in 1989 to develop data mining software that would prove useful in anticipating market changes. Enjoying an honorable reputation in the sector, MicroStrategy signed its largest contract at the time in 1992, signed with the McDonlad's company. The idea was to create personality software to monitor the effectiveness of advertising campaigns run by the leader in the fast-food industry. Here again, the results were conclusive for MicroStrategy, which is quickly becoming a must for financial intelligence. Today, the company counts Porshe and Visa among its clients. It has become an essential company in Business Intelligence.
Since then, the company has been listed on the stock exchange, with an estimated valuation of more than a billion dollars.
The Bitcoin adventure
In 2020, the company MicroStrategy, little known to the general public, experienced a burst of notoriety with the (surprising) investment in bitcoin. Micheal Saylor, as CEO, made an announcement to his shareholders painting a pessimistic picture for the future of fiat currency. He asserted that dollar liquidity holdings would fade in terms of purchasing power. He then suggested that shareholders hold bitcoin because he considered the asset to be a reliable asset, which would increase in value over time.
The company had about $550 million on hand, and according to calculations by the company's financiers, MicroStrategy only needed $50 million in working capital. It was then possible to invest in Bitcoin without jeopardizing the operation of the company. At that point, Saylor owned over 70% of the company's shares, so he technically had full authority to invest in Bitcoin.
This is what he did and the company purchased more than 20 bitcoins in August 000 at an average price of $2020, despite the reluctance of many investors.
Bitcoin Maximalism
After purchasing bitcoin in August, MicroStrategy repeated the operation in December 2020 with a total of approximately 70,000 bitcoins. Subsequently and until today, the company has continued to purchase bitcoin on a regular basis and today owns more than 129,000. In parallel with the purchase by the company, Michael Saylor also claimed to have purchased personally and owned 17,732 for a total purchase of $200 million.
During the bull run year, the price of Bitcoin reached its ATH by crossing the $60 mark. MicroStrategy's stock price also rose as the company's cash flow posted a record profit of more than 000%.
Many shareholders believed that the company should sell at least some of the bitcoins in its possession at this time. Micheal Saylor refuses, explaining that he did not only consider bitcoin as an investment vehicle but as a real tool to replace current fiat currency.
In numerous publications, as the price of bitcoin continued to fall, Michael Saylor stated that he was part of what are called "bitcoin maximalists".
Bitcoin maximalism encompasses the belief that Bitcoin is unlike other cryptocurrencies and that, in the long run, it will be the only digital asset with real value, capable of supplanting fiat currencies. For Bitcoin maximalists, Bitcoin's destiny is to replace fiat currencies entirely, bringing about a radical paradigm shift. This belief can sometimes resemble a religious belief among some more extreme individuals, such as those who advocate an exclusively carnivorous diet . (Read the article: Are Bitcoin Maximalists (Really) Toxic to the Ecosystem? )
The fall in the price of bitcoin and the resignation of Saylor
The price of Bitcoin has declined since the bear market intensified in 2022 , fueled by numerous scandals and controversies in the crypto industry (e.g., the invasion of Ukraine, the collapse of FTX, etc.). Investing in Bitcoin was criticized by shareholders, which ultimately led Michael Saylor to resign as CEO in August 2021.
We do not know whether or not the reasons for his resignation are related to his decision to maintain his bitcoin holdings, however, the position was given to the former CFO: Mr Phong Le. Remember that Saylor nevertheless remains the executive chairman and that he therefore retains a certain power within MicroStrategy.
The new CEO of MicroStrategy does not share the same enthusiasm as his predecessor and it seems that he does not want to buy bitcoin, at least in the near future.
What is the impact of Michael Saylor on the price of bitcoin?
According to CoinGecko , a crypto data provider, MicroStrategy holds the most Bitcoin in the world, surpassing Coinbase. As of February 2023, according to the same source, MicroStrategy held 129,699 Bitcoins, representing approximately 0,618% of the total BTC supply.
It's important to note that Michael Saylor, as an individual, is one of the so-called " whales ." These "whales" own a significant portion of the bitcoins in circulation. This gives Saylor a certain degree of influence over the price of bitcoin , in theory. Given the amount of bitcoin he owns, he could flood the market with liquidity if he decided, for example, to sell all his BTC. While this remains unlikely, it would theoretically be possible. It goes without saying that this would nevertheless trigger a major panic in the markets.
The company was forced to sell 704 bitcoins in 2022 for accounting reasons. Having purchased an average of $30 worth of bitcoin since the first investment, the company reportedly has an unrealized loss of around $000 billion, at the time of writing. The price of bitcoin would have to fall to around $1 for MicroStrategy to have to add additional collateral and meet its margin call. (Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/3500-2023-02/microstrategy-posts-another-quarterly-loss-after-bitcoin-charge).
Read the article: How can whales manipulate prices?
Michael Saylor remains one of the most influential Bitcoin evangelists. By deciding to "hodle" his bitcoins, he demonstrates his commitment to Bitcoin. This also helps to build public confidence in investing in Bitcoin , much like Elon Musk did at one point (when he too decided to invest in Bitcoin on behalf of Tesla ). It's worth noting that this paved the way for many other companies to consider BTC as a store of value for their treasuries.
Officially, the company only holds BTC as a cryptocurrency asset and no altcoins have been listed on MicroStrategy's balance sheet.
Holding BTC despite the market decline has also improved the perceived image of Bitcoin among institutions and traditional finance. Michael Saylor, through his reputation, has made a strong contribution to the adoption of bitcoin. In this sense, we can say that very objectively, he is one of those who have contributed the most to making Bitcoin known to as many people as possible.
See also:
- “Bitcoin and me”, the famous letter from Hal Finney
- Who is Nick Szabo: the man who invented “smart contracts”?
- Who is Jack Dorsey and what is his commitment to Bitcoin?
- Who is Roger Ver, the famous “Bitcoin Jesus”, founder of BCH?
- Who in the crypto ecosystem owns the most bitcoin (BTC)?
- Who is Andreas Antonopoulos, the best known “bitcoin evangelist”?
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