MicroStrategy and Michael Saylor settle tax case for $40M

The technology firm MicroStrategy and its pro-Bitcoin founder, Michael Saylor, have agreed to a $40-million deal to end a lawsuit accusing him of evading income tax.

The New York Times reported on June 3 that the attorney general for the District of Columbia has reached a $40-million settlement with Saylor and his software company, MicroStrategy.

According to the report, local officials assessed the agreement as the “biggest-ever income tax fraud recovery” in the district. It is reportedly the first lawsuit under the district’s amended False Claims Act, which encourages whistleblowers to file tax evasion claims against residents allegedly hiding residence information.

The District of Columbia sued Saylor and his company, MicroStrategy , in August 2022, alleging the executive paid no income taxes in the district for at least 10 years he had lived there.

According to the claims, the firm helped Saylor evade more than $25 million in D.C. income tax. Experts originally suggested that Saylor could see $75 million in penalties.

The tax fraud suit forced Saylor to  resign as CEO of MicroStrategy in August 2022, 33 years after founding the firm. He immediately assumed the new role of executive chairman and continued to serve as chairman of the board of directors.

Despite leaving the CEO position, Saylor has continued to maintain MicroStrategy’s image as a Bitcoin-friendly company, regularly announcing new Bitcoin ( BTC ) purchases on his X account.

One of MicroStrategy’s recent big purchases was made in March 2024, with the firm buying 12,000 BTC through an $800-million convertible note offering.

According to the company’s latest update, MicroStrategy owned 214,400 BTC as of May 1, 2024, bought at the average purchase price as $35,000 per BTC with a total cost of around $7.5 billion.

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Saylor has emerged as a major Bitcoin bull and technology advocate due to large investments and notable Bitcoin-related activity on social media. He is a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency community and is frequently invited to speak at industry conferences.

Saylor isn’t quite an early Bitcoin adopter, though. His journey to becoming a Bitcoin billionaire began in 2020 when he announced on Twitter that he had personally bought 17,732 BTC for $175 million .

Before that announcement, Saylor could have been referred to as more of a Bitcoin naysayer. On Dec. 7, 2013, he wrote: “Lacking a credible sponsor, Bitcoin is in imminent danger of being regulated out of existence.”

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