Though MicroStrategy is a software and AI company, they are hoping to rebrand themselves into "the world's first Bitcoin development company". Led by chairman Michael Saylor, they are putting their money where their mouth is, literally.
Saylor and MicroStrategy have acquired 193,000 Bitcoins since 2020, making them the largest institutional holder of BTC in the world. This investment has paid off tremendously, making MicroStrategy one of the most relevant public companies in the crypto space.
According to a report filed with the SEC, from February 15 to 25, MicroStrategy bought an additional 3,000 Bitcoins for a cost basis of $155.4 million. This brought the entire portfolio to a total of 193,000 Bitcoins, with a cost basis of $31,544 per Bitcoin, or a total of just under $6.1 billion.
As Bitcoin has run up in price, Saylor's investment has seen huge gains. At its height on February 28th, Bitcoin reached a price of $63,918. At that time, Saylor's position was worth $12.3 billion, more than twice what he bought it for.
Additionally, the price of Bitcoin appreciated more than 25% in the 3 days from February 26-28. On top of that, MicroStrategy's stock is up more than 55% this week, going from less than $700 to well over $1,000.
Saylor is the largest shareholder in MSTR, holding more than 2.4 million shares, and holds at least 17,732 Bitcoins of his own. So, the 25% gains on Bitcoin brought about profits of $230 million on Saylor's personal stash of 17,732 Bitcoins. For MSTR stock, Saylor's 2.4 million shares grew by 55%, bringing in profits of $984 million. When you add the 2 together, you get a total increase of over $1.2 billion in just 3 days.
While neither of these gains are fully realized, they still show up on Saylor's personal balance sheet as a huge increase in assets. Additionally, Saylor did sell some of his shares, but it was a drop in the bucket compared to his total holdings.
The increase in the price of both Bitcoin and MSTR stock brings Saylor's total holdings to over $3.75 billion, a large portion of which came to be just this week. His BTC and MSTR holdings would put him in the top 900 people on Earth by net worth before even considering any of his other assets.
While the gains are impressive, Saylor does not see himself or MicroStrategy selling their Bitcoin holdings anytime soon, saying that "Bitcoin is the exit strategy" in an interview last week.
It will be interesting to see if Saylor is tempted to sell after the huge increases in price for his investments, or if he will stick by his guns and continue to be bullish on Bitcoin.