'Black Swan' Author Mocks MicroStrategy's Bitcoin Stance After CEO Michael Saylor Steps Down

“Black Swan” author Nassim Nicholas Taleb commented on the exit of Michael Saylor as MicroStrategy’s MSTR CEO on Tuesday.

What Happened: Taleb asked on Twitter how much of the 120,000 Bitcoin  MicroStrategy will “have to sell?”

He said the developments at the company, which included it taking a $918 million impairment charge on its Bitcoin holdings, as “another nail in the coffin to the ‘we’ll never sell’” approach. 

How much of 120K #BTC will they *have to* sell? Another nail in the coffin to the "we'll never sell". https://t.co/cHX8FvC0Ud

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb (@nntaleb) August 2, 2022

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Why It Matters: Michael Saylor, who led MicroStrategy for 33 years, will step down and hand over the reins to Phong Le, the company’s president. Saylor will move to become the company’s executive chair.

Taleb also seemingly commented on the management swap, saying that the only thing that matters in a corporate announcement is "the announcement, not the details."

When you spend you life in finance, you know that in a corporate announcement, the only thing that matter is the announcement, not the details. You don't get randomly transferred.

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb (@nntaleb) August 2, 2022

MicroStrategy posted a 1,176.62% earnings miss on Tuesday, losing $92.81 per share versus an estimate of a loss of $7.27 per share.

The company holds 129,698 BTC valued at nearly $2.96 billion, which it acquired for almost $3.975 billion, according to Bitcoin Treasuries data. A portion of MicroStrategy's Bitcoin purchases were fueled by debt, according to a prior report. 

Saylor said Tuesday that as chair he would 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."

Price Action: On Tuesday, MicroStrategy shares closed 0.9% higher at $278.26 in the regular session. At press time, over 24 hours, Bitcoin traded 0.6% lower at $22,849.46 according to Benzinga Pro data.
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Photo courtesy MicroStrategy on Flickr