Michael Saylor must pay $40 million in arrears

Prosecutors have been investigating Michael Saylor, the founder of MicroStrategy, since August 2022. The charge: fraud with income tax.

MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor has reached a US$40 million settlement affected with the District of Columbia. According to prosecutors, this is the largest income tax refund in the District to date.

"No one in the District of Columbia is above the law, no matter how rich or powerful he is. Saylor not only broke the law, but also openly bragged about his tax evasion," said Attorney General Brian Schwalb.

In August 2022 complained the District of Columbia to Saylor alleging that he had not paid Washington, D.C. income taxes in the more than 10 years he had lived there.

"Florida is still my home, and I continue to dispute the assertion that I was ever a resident of the District of Columbia," states Saylor opposite the New York Times.

He explains: "I agreed to settle this case so as not to further burden friends, family and myself with the lawsuit." The attorney general's office alleged that Saylor had failed to pay $25 million in taxes.

The share of MicroStrategy (MSTR) remained unfazed, rising 6.75 percent yesterday to $1627. Since the beginning of the year, this represents a spectacular 158 percent price increase.

"This was a personal tax matter for Mr. Saylor. MicroStrategy was not responsible for his day-to-day affairs and did not oversee his individual tax obligations," said a spokesperson for MicroStrategy.

With a stock of 214,400 Bitcoin, MicroStrategy now owns more than one percent of all BTC ever in existence. Michael Saylor's "Bitcoin development company" was recently included in the popular MSCI World Index, thanks to its success.