- Michael Saylor’s Strategy has returned to an unrealized $3.7 billion gain on its Bitcoin holdings after recording an $11.5 billion loss in February 2026.
- The company’s aggressive bitcoin acquisition has incurred over $1.1 billion in operational costs beyond the purchase price.
- Despite Bitcoin’s price rally, the company’s complex financial engineering has resulted in an annualized return of just 1% since it began buying in August 2020.
Bitcoin’s surge past $80,000 in early May 2026 has propelled Strategy‘s massive treasury back into the green after a deep deficit. Consequently, the company’s unrealized loss of $11.5 billion in February has transformed into a $3.7 billion gain. However, this recovery masks the monumental costs of its corporate bitcoin strategy.
The company has spent over $1 billion on operations to fund these purchases beyond the bitcoin’s cost. These expenses include $259 million in net interest, $381 million in preferred dividends, and $163 million in issuance costs. Meanwhile, equity-based compensation for executives directing the pivot added another $319 million.
Saylor justifies the expense by claiming bitcoin will rally 30% annually for a decade. He made an inaccurate claim that its average annual return was 39% over the prior five years. In fact, data shows the return was only 6% for that period.
Even from the company’s first purchase in August 2020, bitcoin’s return was 36% annually. Meanwhile, Strategy‘s actual investment return has been far lower due to its high average cost basis of $75,537. The firm has earned just 5.9% over 5.7 years, translating to a 1% annualized return.
A critical analysis questioned the strategy given the heavy cost of borrowed money. Therefore, achieving this minimal return required ten figures in financial engineering expenditures.
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