MicroStrategy Inc stated that co-founder Michael Saylor will no longer serve as its Chief executive officer (CEO) and will assume a new role of executive chairman as the enterprise-software maker posted a Q2 2022 loss of nearly $1 billion. The company took a $917.8 million impairment charge related to the drop in the value of the Bitcoin that it holds.
Saylor, who had made owning BTC on the Tysons Corner, Virginia-based firm’s balance sheet a part of its business strategy, will now focus on the crypto acquisition strategy and related advocacy initiatives. Bitcoin lost 59% of its value in the quarter and traded nearly 45% lower than the price at the end of the year-earlier period. Phong Le, MicroStrategy President, will take over the chief executive role.
Revenue plunged to $122.1 million. Analysts who participated in a Bloomberg survey expected revenue of $123.25 million in the second quarter. Notably, the net quarterly loss of $1.062 billion when compared with a loss of $299.3 million in the same quarter of 2021 is quite staggering.
Buy Bitcoin NowSaylor has been CEO of MicroStrategy since launching the company in 1989. As of June 30, the carrying value of the firm’s 129,699 Bitcoins was $1.988 billion, the company confirmed, reflecting the cumulative impairment loss of $1.989 billion.
MicroStrategy started investing in Bitcoin in the summer of 2020, since Saylor believed that it is a hedge against inflation. Shares of MicroStrategy lost 2.3% in post-market trading. So far this year, the stock has lost 50% of its value, somewhat at par with Bitcoin’s plunge.