MicroStrategy Incorporated, one of the few crypto-holding companies, has named a new finance chief. This comes after the analytics-software company said last week that it would allow employees to invest their 401(k funds in bitcoin.
MicroStrategy, Tysons Corner, Va., announced Tuesday that Andrew Kang will be its next chief financial officers, with effect from May 9. Mr. Kang was previously the CFO at GreenSky Inc. home-improvement lender GreenSky Inc. and will succeed Finance Chief Phong L. Mr. MicroStrategy stated that Le, who had been in the position since July 2020, would remain president.
Before joining GreenSky, which Goldman Sachs Group Inc. purchased in March, Mr. Kang was a corporate treasurer for Santander Holdings USA. This bank-holding company. He held finance and Treasury positions at several banks.
MicroStrategy reported that revenue dropped 2.9% to $119.3million in the first quarter compared to the previous-year period. The quarter’s net losses increased to $130.8million from $110 million in the previous year, partly due to an impairment charge related the bitcoins.
Along with Block Inc., a payment company, and auto maker Tesla Inc., the company is one of a few businesses that have substantial bitcoin holdings. MicroStrategy reported that it had $2.9 billion in cryptocurrency book value as of March 31 compared to $1.95 billion one year ago.
The company reported last month that it had purchased approximately 4,167 bitcoins at $190.5 million cash, bringing its total bitcoin holdings to 129.218.
MicroStrategy announced that it would allow its employees to invest part of their retirement savings from 401(k), in bitcoin under a new offering by financial-services giant Fidelity Investments Inc.
The Securities and Exchange Commission sent a January letter to MicroStrategy requesting that it revise how it discloses its Bitcoin holdings in future filings. When it applied measures that were not consistent with U.S. generally accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), the firm was able to remove bitcoin trading volatility. Mr. Le had previously told the SEC that such impairment losses could distract investors from analysis of company’s operating results. However, the company changed its disclosures accordingly.
Although Mr. Kang is a strong financial professional, it will take him some time to transition into software, according to Brent Thill, a senior analyst with Jefferies Group LLC. This financial-services company.
“His job is to keep the company focused on core operations, rather than being distracted by bitcoin,” Mr. Thill stated.