The technological world is full of eccentric characters like the late Mark Hurd; amoral like Zuckerberg; deranged like the also deceased John McAfee; egomaniacs like Elon Musk or gamblers like the character in this text. We are talking about Michael Saylor, founder of the company dedicated to MicroStrategy analytics and until recently, its CEO. Saylor likes to gamble big and especially with his company’s money. His biggest vice: bitcoins. His addiction began in August 2020 when the character at hand did not like the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve. The illustrious Saylor thought that for the company’s profits to have more value, it would be necessary to invest in the famous cryptocurrency so that they would increase.
Michael Saylor, founder of MicroStrategy And sure enough, they increased, so Saylor entered into a compulsive dynamic. Like any player, he believed that the good streak would last forever, but the play began to go wrong and bitcoin began to lose value. Like any self-respecting gambler, Michael Saylor did not walk away from the table but has continued to put more chips on it. In his favour, it must be said that it is easier to play if the money is someone else’s, and that is the trick he has in his favour. Gambling MicroStrategy’s money is not the same as gambling a portion of the $1.6 billion that Forbes calculates his personal fortune.

Like any self-respecting gambler, Michael Saylor did not leave the table but has continued to put more chips on it

Saylor’s relentless course, which continues to believe that its cryptocurrency bets will be very profitable, has caused MicroStrategy to lose a good part of its traditional business and that right now it is only a refuge for those who do not dare to buy bitcoins directly: they simply buy shares of the firm. Microstrategy is, today, the company that owns the most bitcoins in the world. And also the one that has two very different sources of income: the one from its analytics business, which in 10 years has fallen by 15% and the one that comes from bitcoin, which is not exactly there to brag about and that in a single quarter they have supposed to lose 1,000 million dollars! The problem for the former analytics leader is that they can’t kick the gambler out. Although Saylor only owns 20% of the shares, he controls 68% of the votes through a special class of shares. The confidence of shareholders and clients is that the lawsuits filed by the District Attorney of the District of Columbia for tax evasion prosper. Meanwhile, the character will continue playing roulette.