Dive Brief:
- Bitcoin accumulator Strategy said CFO Andrew Kang is resigning from the position after more than four years in the seat, with the company citing unspecified personal reasons for his exit, according to a Thursday securities filing. He is also relinquishing his duties as the company’s principal accounting officer and will leave the company after serving as an advisor through the end of the year.
- The Tysons Corner, Virginia-based company said its CEO Phong Le will serve as CFO for a period from Nov. 6 to Dec. 31. On Jan. 1 Reza Virasteh, currently VP of operations, will step into the CFO role while also serving as co-principal financial officer with Le.
- As part of the leadership transition, Shelley Khanna, currently the company’s global controller, will become its chief accounting officer and principal accounting officer on Nov. 6. Kang will leave the company after serving as an advisor through the end of the year.
Dive Insight:
The leadership change came as the company reported improvements across some financial metrics in its third quarter earnings report Thursday as bitcoin rises off a 52-week low.
Formerly known as MicroStrategy, Strategy on Thursday reported net income of $19.53 billion in Q3, compared to $2.79 billion in the year-earlier. However, total revenues for the recent quarter ticked down to $125.4 million from $128.7 million in the year-earlier period.
The company’s outgoing CFO and founder Michael Saylor in statements in a Thursday earnings release expressed optimism about bitcoin’s future prospects despite continued volatility in the asset. Bitcoin was down about 2.5% and trading at about $76,757 on Friday afternoon, according to yahoo!finance.com.
Kang said Q3’s operating income of $21 billion, compared to $3.89 billion in the year-earlier, was the largest in Strategy’s history while Saylor reiterated his belief in bitcoin’s rebound, saying “we are at the beginning of the next bitcoin bull market.”
Saylor has previously predicted the Bitcoin will return back to a six-figure value above $100,000 again, Bloomberg reported on Oct. 13.
“Banks are embracing bitcoin, bitcoin’s dominance among digital assets is growing, institutional demand is back, and bitcoin price is 21% above its 200-week moving average,” Saylor said.
Virasteh, 50, has previously held other senior positions including VP of FP&A. Before joining the company in 2008 he was director of finance and banking operations at Premier Mortgage Capital.
His compensation as CFO will include a base salary of $500,000, his annual discretionary cash bonus target will be increased to $400,000 and he will receive restricted stock units with a target value of $1 million.
On Thursday Strategy, which describes itself as the “world’s first bitcoin treasury company,” said it was taking steps and demonstrating it was committed to returning its shares that trade under STRC symbol “to health” by paying out daily dividends including on weekends and holidays.
“Daily dividends are a natural step toward the tokenized, 24/7/365 financial system. Digital Credit is being built for that world, and Strategy intends to lead it,” Le said in a statement in the release.
