Michael Saylor and MicroStrategy settle $40 million tax fraud case without admission of guilt

Washington, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced a historic $40 million tax fraud recovery settlement with Michael Saylor and his company, MicroStrategy, according to a June 3 press release.

Schwalb said:

“Michael Saylor – billionaire tech executive and investor – will pay $40 million to the District in the largest income tax fraud recovery in DC history. Saylor not only broke the law, he openly bragged about his tax evasion scheme and encouraged others to follow his example.”

Despite the settlement, Saylor and MicroStrategy have denied any wrongdoing. They said the agreement was made to avoid further legal complications and reduce litigation burdens.

Saylor is a vocal proponent of Bitcoin, and MicroStrategy holds more than 200,000 BTC, valued at around $14 billion.

Tax fraud

The settlement arises from allegations that Saylor evaded over $25 million in income taxes while living in Washington, D.C.

The attorney general’s office accused Saylor of collaborating with MicroStrategy to submit fraudulent tax documents between 2005 and 2021, where they falsely reported that he was residing in Virginia or Florida, states with lower income tax rates.

However, Schlabb claimed that Saylor resided “in a 7,000 square foot Georgetown penthouse and docked multiple yachts at Washington Harbour” and further asserted:

“Saylor illegally pretended to live in lower-tax jurisdictions to avoid paying taxes on hundreds of millions of dollars of income – all while living in a 7,000 square foot Georgetown penthouse and docking multiple yachts at Washington Harbour.”

MSTR shares up

The settlement agreement has not affected shares of the Bitcoin development company.

Yahoo Finance data shows that MSTR’s shares were up by around 7% on the day and trading at $1,615 as of press time. This continues a trend of positive runs for a BTC-related stock that has risen by 133% on the year-to-date metric.

Notably, the company’s stock was added to the MSCI World Index, with BlackRock—the world’s largest asset management firm—acquiring 4,020 shares of MSTR, valued at approximately $6.1 million.

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