Strategy Executives Defend Bitcoin Approach Amid Stock Drawdown

Strategy Inc. Executive Chairman Michael Saylor and Chief Executive Officer Phong Le defended the company's Bitcoin-focused capital strategy during an investor Q&A on August 18, 2026, addressing shareholder concerns after MSTR shares suffered a 79% drawdown from their November 2024 peak.

The pushback followed a steep decline in Bitcoin, which fell roughly 40% to 50% from its October 2025 all-time high. During the Q&A session, an investor named Rob noted that a $219,000 investment spread across three children had dropped to $60,000, arguing that common shareholders appeared to be the lowest priority.

Le directly addressed those concerns by outlining the structure of the equity vehicle.

"I think there is this misconceived notion that issuing our equity is dilutive to our shareholders," said Phong Le, CEO of Strategy Inc.

Le explained that common shareholders remain the company's top priority, emphasizing that MSTR is intentionally engineered to provide amplified exposure to Bitcoin. Consequently, the stock outperforms Bitcoin during market rallies but experiences steeper declines during downturns. He argued that issuing shares above net asset value to buy Bitcoin remains accretive on a per-share basis.

Following Le's explanation, Saylor provided long-term perspective on holding the company's stock.

"I feel your pain," said Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of Strategy Inc. "But I think we have to be prepared to have difficult years. It might be one year, it might be two years."

Saylor added that MSTR requires a time horizon of at least four years, with seven to 10 years being ideal. He stated that buying the stock means signing up for a volatile ride, while reiterating his personal stake of over 19 million shares.

"We might have to actually ride through some number of months or a year or 2 in order to get to the point where things start to work to the benefit of the equity," said Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of Strategy Inc.

Saylor revealed that Strategy's primary goal has expanded beyond accumulating Bitcoin to developing digital credit products, particularly through STRC. He estimated the digital-credit market could grow from $15 billion today to $1 trillion over time.

Strategy has kept its Bitcoin acquisitions on hold for seven weeks while raising $333.7 million through equity sales. According to company records, the proceeds were allocated to repurchase $132.2 million of preferred shares, fund $52.4 million in dividends, and add about $150 million to dollar reserves.