According to BloombergMichael Saylor, president of business intelligence software company MicroStrategy and Bitcoin (BTC) bull, has agreed to pay $40 million to settle a tax fraud lawsuit.
The suit, filed by the Washington, D.C., attorney general’s office, accused Saylor of evading more than $25 million in income taxes while living in Washington for more than a decade.
MicroStrategy’s Saylor Resolves Tax Evasion Allegations
As of August 2022, the lawsuit alleged that Michael Saylor had “knowingly evaded paying taxes,” a claim he vehemently denied at the time, stating that he resided in Florida.
It is interesting to note that, according to an official press release, the regulation reached is considered the largest income tax recovery in District of Columbia history. However, as noted in a MicroStrategy filing, the agreement does not require Saylor or MicroStrategy to admit wrongdoing.
The company clarified that the tax issue was Saylor’s problem and that he was “not responsible for overseeing his tax obligations.”
A MicroStrategy spokesperson stressed that the company would not contribute to the settlement and that Saylor would bear all costs. The settlement marks an important step in holding even the “wealthiest and most influential individuals” accountable under the law, as D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb said.
Schwalb pointed out that Saylor openly bragged about his alleged tax evasion in Washington and encouraged others to follow suit. The attorney general’s office considered the settlement a precedent, emphasizing that no one should be above the law, regardless of their wealth or power.
Bitcoin enthusiasm translates into $13.5 billion
Michael Saylor, a well-known Bitcoin enthusiast, has been a major beneficiary of the cryptocurrency’s recent rise in value.
As reported According to Bitcoinist, since MicroStrategy began purchasing Bitcoin to protect against inflation, the value of its holdings reached approximately $13.5 billion at the end of April. During the first quarter, the company purchased an additional 25,250 BTC, bringing its total holdings to 214,400.
Jeff Dorman, chief investment officer at Arca, a digital asset management company, summarized Saylor’s strategy for MicroStrategy as follows: sell equity or debt and use the proceeds to buy Bitcoin. As The value of BTC rises, as does the price of MSTR stock, allowing the company to sell more stock or debt and repeat the cycle.
The market’s leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, is trading at $69,190, indicating a 2% upward deviation from its previous consolidation seen last week.
In contrast, the stock price of MicroStrategy, listed as MSTR, is currently $1,600, a steady decline from its late March level of $1,990.
Featured image from Market Insider, chart from TradingView.com
