MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor is stepping down as CEO of the firm as the business software company reports incurring a $917.8 million Bitcoin (BTC) loss during the second quarter of the year.
In a new interview with CNBC, Saylor says that the decision to exit from his post and take on the new role as MicroStrategy’s executive chairman has nothing to do with the company’s Bitcoin losses.
“There’s no relationship between the transition and that write-off. It’s a non-cash write-off and our investors look through that as does the board of directors and the officers.”
MicroStrategy president Phong Le will be taking over as the company’s new chief executive. According to Saylor, the reorganization is placing people into roles where they are most effective.
“Phong has been the president of the company for the past two years and the CEO heir-apparent. He has been president and CFO until May of this year.
Given the size of the balance sheet, the opportunities in front of us, the company really needed a world-class dedicated CFO, so when Andrew Kang joined us in May, we checked that box. That cleared the way for Phong to step up to the role of president and CEO. He’s an extraordinarily talented executive and this will make him even more effective.”
Saylor says that his new position as the company’s chairman will allow him to focus more on being an advocate for Bitcoin.
“I have emerged as an important advocate and spokesperson for the Bitcoin community on a worldwide basis. This will allow me to take the role of executive chairman where I can be a more enthusiastic advocate for Bitcoin while Phong and Andrew manage the corporate operations, execute on the MicroStrategy ongoing business strategy.”
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