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SummerhouseLater t1_iwbrjp0 wrote

Reply to comment by washingtonpost in D.C.’s bitcoin king: yachts, penthouses, a python — and tax dodging? by washingtonpost

Does the reporter know if his wealth has tanked with the current crypto crash…? I’ve never heard of this person before so am unaware why he would be the “crypto king” from this article other than the first sentence.

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brock_h t1_iwbtsre wrote

Michael Saylor's initial wealth comes from Microstrategy. A very successful (though if you ask me now becoming more and more irrelevant) technology company based in the Tysons area. To be clear, Microstrategy still exists and has products used by the federal government and other industries. So, he is not rich because he's a crypto bro, he is a rich guy who became a crypto bro after he was already very rich. It's an important distinction. He is more of a corporate executive and business owner who went a little loopy over it, and he uses his Microstrategy company as a vessel for his Bitcoin holdings.

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TrueBirch t1_iwc8ta2 wrote

Good explanation.

I have a related question. I've been a data science manager for years and Microstrategy has never been mentioned in a single meeting. We've hired lots of vendors for different reporting and analytics applications. What is their current niche?

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TheDeHymenizer t1_iwcc9fw wrote

> Microstrategy has never been mentioned in a single meeting. We've hired lots of vendors for different reporting and analytics applications. What is their current niche?

They're an ERP solution that stopped growing by 2010 lol they compete with things like Cognos and SAP

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brock_h t1_iwcjhe6 wrote

Microstrategy is in use at some large three letter agencies. Just a year or so ago I was almost on a project using it (thankfully I dodged that). I don't claim to really know much about it but from what I saw it was more of a reporting/BI use case for that specific project. It is absolutely not a data science tool and you're not going to see it mentioned alongside things like Databricks, Snowflake, etc. It is very old hat. Frankly, however, I think if Saylor had put half the energy he put into BTC into his company it may still have been relevant (or at least sold to someone relevant) at some point.

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Gr8WallofChinatown t1_iwbxd44 wrote

He has a "secret" LLC where he is dumping BTC. He used his company to pump his BTC where he could dump.

Microstrategy's executives also mass sell stock prior to them announcing BTC buys.

Basically, Saylor and executives are raiding Microstrategy. Everyone knows that company is dying hence why it is now an unofficial "trading" firm / index for BTC when it's supposed to be a tech product company.

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Lalalama t1_iwigm1r wrote

You see his company logo when you go to Tysons.

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