Cloud software company MicroStrategy today announced that Michael Saylor, a Bitcoin advocate who has served as the company’s chief executive officer since 1989, will step down as CEO and transition to a new role of executive chairman.
Phong Le, the company’s president, will assume the role of CEO at MicroStrategy, which is currently the public company with the largest Bitcoin treasury. The move took effect today, and according to Saylor, the role split will allow him to focus even more significantly on the firm’s Bitcoin holdings.
“I believe that splitting the roles of Chairman and CEO will enable us to better pursue our two corporate strategies of acquiring and holding Bitcoin and growing our enterprise analytics software business,” Saylor said in a press release.
“As Executive Chairman I will be able to focus more on our Bitcoin acquisition strategy and related bitcoin advocacy initiatives,” Saylor added, “while Phong will be empowered as CEO to manage overall corporate operations.”
As of June 29, MicroStrategy held 129,699 BTC, or about $2.99 billion worth at today’s prices. Per the company, the coins were acquired at an average price of $30,664 apiece, which means the firm is currently underwater on its investment.
Stay on top of crypto news, get daily updates in your inbox.
