Choosing stock options instead of salary, MicroStrategy founder Saylor how to build a net worth of $8.5 billion

This year, the most vocal speaker is undoubtedly Michael Saylor, the founder of MicroStrategy. In a recent interview, he repeatedly mentioned: always enter at the high point, continuous buying is a way of exiting, there is no reason to sell winners to buy losers. We will analyze Saylor's unique investment strategy in this article.

Bitcoin market cap reaches $1.9 trillion, becoming the world's seventh-largest asset.

According to 8marketcap's data, gold is the world's largest asset, with a market value of as high as 17.9 trillion US dollars, followed by Apple, with a market value of 3.7 trillion US dollars, and Nvidia closely following at 3.4 trillion US dollars. Bitcoin, on the other hand, ranks seventh, with a current market value of as high as 1.9 trillion US dollars.

Saylor mentioned in the interview that unlike the seven giants, Bitcoin is not a company but an asset, similar to gold, with the function of value storage.

Saylor's net worth exceeds 8.5 billion US dollars

Michael Saylor is the largest investor in MicroStrategy, owning nearly 20 million shares of MicroStrategy stock. In 2020, he personally owned 17,732 bitcoins.

MicroStrategy stock: Saylor owns 381,900 Class A shares and 19,616,680 Class B shares, totaling 19,998,580 shares, calculated at 1/7 closing price of $341.43, worth approximately $6.8 billion.

Bitcoin: With a price of 96K Bitcoin, approximately 17,732 Bitcoins are worth about 1.7 billion US dollars. Please provide the text to be translated. In addition, Saylor also stated when he sold MicroStrategy stocks at the beginning of last year that he would invest the proceeds into his financial planning, including buying Bitcoin. Therefore, it is speculated that his net worth will be much higher than the estimated $8.5 billion.

Don't receive salary, only receive stock options

Saylor reported the sale of 315,000 shares of MicroStrategy stock (code MTSR) early last year, and began selling 5,000 shares of stock every day from January 2, 2024 to April 25. Saylor explained that these were company options he received in 2014. He originally chose to receive only a $1 salary, and these options would expire if not exercised. He will invest the cash from the sale into his financial planning, including purchasing Bitcoin. Even after selling these shares, he still owns a majority of MicroStrategy's stock.

(Michael Saylor's daily stock selling plan is nearing its end, selling MicroStrategy for $370 million)

Many CEOs of listed companies choose not to take salaries, preferring to receive stock options. This is not only because they believe in the long-term development of the company, but also due to tax considerations. Stock options usually have a longer exercise period, allowing them to sell the stocks in batches when the stock price is higher (capital gains income is recognized only when the stocks are sold), unlike fixed salaries, which need to be reported annually and cannot be adjusted.

Saylor's HODLer spirit

In the world of cryptocurrency, the "HODLer spirit" refers to the attitude of holding onto cryptocurrencies for a long term and not selling. This spirit emphasizes confidence and patience in cryptocurrencies, and holders will not easily sell their assets regardless of market fluctuations. Some also refer to it as the "diamond hands", meaning holders are as steadfast as diamonds until they reach their set goals.

Saylor's saying "Always enter at a high point, continuous buying is a kind of exit strategy" is the best practice of HODLer spirit.

His HODLer spirit is not only demonstrated in Bitcoin. In his speech in 2012, Saylor mentioned that he was optimistic about Apple's stocks and called those who sold the stock idiots! At that time, Apple's stock price was only $20. Calculated based on the split cost and today's stock price, it has now earned more than 300 times.

(Michael Saylor teaches you how to be a HODLer, accurately predicts Apple's stock price, and has already made 250 times the profit)

There is no reason to sell winners and buy losers

In the management of the company, the management will choose to "eliminate the weak and retain the strong" and cut off the unprofitable departments. However, ordinary investors often use the "mean reversion strategy" to deal with their assets, that is, sell assets with good performance (winners) and buy assets with poor performance (losers), expecting that the assets will always return to their expected prices in a mean-reverting way.

Saylor said: There is no reason to sell winners to buy losers! This statement points out this investment bias, because good assets will have a continuous upward trend, as long as the fundamentals do not change, there is no reason to sell profitable assets. This is also different from the habit of 'averaging down' of many investors.

It can only be said that Saylor not only has achieved success in running the company, but also has his unique and persistent side in investment!

This article, not receiving salary but only stock options, how did MicroStrategy founder Saylor build a net worth of $8.5 billion? First appeared on ChainNews ABMedia.