Billionaire bitcoin bull and MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor will pay $40 million to settle a lawsuit alleging he committed massive tax fraud by lying to authorities for years about where he lived, the Washington DC district attorneys office said Monday.
DC prosecutors have alleged MicroStrategy had helped Saylor to evade more than $25 million in local income taxes from 2005 to 2022 through falsified records and statements.
The tech executive allegedly claimed to live in Florida or Virginia despite residing in a luxury waterfront penthouse in the capitals tony Georgetown neighborhood.
Prosecutors alleged that he was also docking multiple yachts on the Districts Potomac riverfront.
Neither Saylor nor MicroStrategy admitted to any wrongdoing or violations of the law in the settlement, the company said in a filing.
MicroStrategy shares were up 8% to approximately $1,625 per share in early trading Monday.
Saylor, who stepped down as MicroStrategys CEO in 2022, will pay this settlement amount to the district in full and the company will not be obligated to make any contribution to the settlement payment.
The Post reached out to MicroStrategy for further comment.
Florida remains my home today, and I continue to dispute the allegation that I was ever a resident of the District of Columbia, Saylor said in a statement to the New York Times, which first reported the settlement. I have agreed to settle this matter to avoid the continued burdens of the litigation on friends, family, and myself.
The DC district attorneys office asserted that Saylor had spent millions to buy three luxury condo units with the purpose of combining them into a 7,000 square foot residence overlooking the Potomac River from 2006 to 2008.
The billionaire purportedly continued living in the district aboard one of his yachts while renovations on his planned residence, dubbed Trigate, were underway.
Saylors own social media posts were cited in the amended complaint detailing the alleged tax fraud scheme.
In March 2012, Saylor posted a photo on Facebook with the caption view from my Georgetown balcony this morning.
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A few months later in September 2012, Saylor posted that he was Gazing wistfully at my future home while I wait for James to crack the whip on the contractors and herd the cats. I wonder if Tony Stark would be so patient.
The name James was a reference to the penthouses architect, James Augustus Seymour Van Wynen.
Now I just need to finish renovating the apartment so I can move back in. For now maybe I pitch a tent outside on the terrace, Saylor wrote at the time.
Saylors personal fortune has swelled in recent months alongside a significant surge in the price of bitcoin.
Saylor is worth an estimated $4.8 billion as of Monday, according to Forbes.
No one in the District of Columbia is above the law, no matter how wealthy or powerful they may be, Washington DC attorney general Brian Schwalb said in a statement posted on X.
Schwalb described the settlement as the largest income tax fraud recovery in DC history.
As the dust settles on Donald Trump’s US election win, the president-elect has begun choosing who will be in his administration for his second stint in the White House.
During the campaign, Mr Trump avoided directly confirming any appointments but frequently dropped hints about who he would like in his top team.
So who is in, who is out and who are the leading contenders for jobs?
Who is in?
Susie Wiles
Susie Wiles is a veteran Republican campaign manager – having helped Ronald Reagan and Ron DeSantis get elected as well as Donald Trump in 2016 and 2024. She is the first member of his team to be announced – and becomes the first female chief-of-staff in American history.
The 67-year-old, who lives in Florida, has a political career that spans decades but has largely kept out of the limelight and rarely given interviews.
She is the daughter of late American footballer Pat Summerall and one of her first jobs in politics was as an assistant to one of his former New York Giants teammates when he became a Republican representative.
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Outside politics, she has worked in the private sector as a lobbyist, for both Ballard Partners, whose clients include Amazon, Google, and the MLB (Major League Baseball), and then Mercury, which works with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the Embassy of Qatar.
This time around, Mr Trump credited her with his “best-run” presidential campaign, describing her as “incredible” at a Milwaukee rally earlier this year, and an “ice maiden” in his victory speech.
Who is out?
Nikki Haley
Ms Haley was once Mr Trump’s main rival during his run for the Republican presidential nomination.
Despite losing the contest, she proved her popularity with parts of the GOP and previously served in his first presidential cabinet as the US ambassador to the United Nations.
The 51-year-old also served as governor of South Carolina but news of her not being involved this time around was broken by the president-elect on his own social media platform, Truth Social.
In a short statement, Mr Trump said he would not be inviting either her nor former secretary of state Mike Pompeo back but thanked them for their service.
In response, Ms Haley, who eventually endorsed Mr Trump despite harshly criticising him in the party primaries, said: “I was proud to work with President Trump defending America at the United Nations.
“I wish him, and all who serve, great success in moving us forward to a stronger, safer America over the next four years.”
Mike Pompeo
Mr Pompeo also served as the director of the CIA under Mr Trump and had been mentioned in some reports as a possible defence secretary or in relation to another role linked to national security, intelligence or diplomacy.
Mr Trump confirmed Mr Pompeo would not be returning to his cabinet in the same post that he ruled out Ms Haley.
Previously among Mr Trump’s closest allies, Mr Pompeo is one of the fiercest US defenders of Ukraine.
Mike Waltz, a congressman from Florida, and Tom Cotton, a Harvard College and Harvard Law School-educated Army officer-turned-senator from Arkansas, are also believed to be in the running for the defence role.
Who is yet to be decided?
Elon Musk
Tech billionaire Elon Musk became one of Mr Trump’s staunchest supporters in the months leading up to the election and spent at least $119m (£92m) canvassing for him in the seven battleground states.
His loyalty looks set to be rewarded as Mr Trump has promised the X owner a role as the head of a new Department of Government Efficiency (or DOGE for short, a reference to the Dogecoin cryptocurrency Mr Musk often promotes).
The department would be “tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government”, Mr Trump said at an event in September.
It could give the billionaire the power to slash through the US federal bureaucracy both he and Mr Trump say has long held America back.
Robert F Kennedy Jr
Robert F Kennedy Jr abandoned his independent presidential campaign to back Mr Trump in August.
It was a move that saw the prominent vaccine sceptic condemned by many members of his family, but as with Musk, his public support looks set to be rewarded by the president-elect.
Mr Trump has pledged to give him a role focusing on health policy and Mr Kennedy has hinted at one possible initiative, stating on X that “the Trump White House will advise all US water systems to remove fluoride from public water”, on inauguration day.
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Mr Kennedy – the son of politician Robert F Kennedy and the nephew of assassinated president John F Kennedy – made a name for himself as a vaccine sceptic during the COVID-19 pandemic and has frequently repeated debunked claims, including linking vaccines to autism in children.
Don Jr, Eric and Lara Trump
Mr Trump’s daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, were among his senior advisers during his first term. But will the businessman once again keep any family members close when he is in the Oval Office?
In June 2023, Mr Trump said he did not want his children to serve in a second administration, saying it was “too painful for the family”.
Nevertheless, while Ms Trump and Mr Kushner have stayed away from politics since, two of Mr Trump’s other sons – Don Jr and Eric – have played prominent roles on the campaign trail.
Eric’s wife, Lara Trump, already has a significant role in US politics, as she serves as co-chair of the Republican Party.
Richard Grenell
Among Mr Trump’s closest aides on foreign policy, Richard Grenell is thought to be a potential pick for national security adviser.
His private dealings with foreign leaders and often caustic personality have made him into a controversial figure, but he could well be part of Mr Trump’s second administration.
Mr Grenell has in the past supported establishing an autonomous zone in eastern Ukraine to end the war, an idea that Kyiv rejected as unacceptable.
Larry Kudlow
Fox News personality Larry Kudlow served as director of the National Economic Council for much of Mr Trump’s first term and is said to have an outside shot at becoming his treasury secretary this time around.
Other names being linked to the post include John Paulson – a billionaire hedge fund manager and donor, who hosted a fundraiser that raked in more than $50m (£38m) for the former president.
Marco Rubio
Marco Rubio, a Florida senator who unsuccessfully ran against Mr Trump to be the Republican’s presidential candidate in 2016, is a potential candidate for secretary of state.
His policies are very much in line with Mr Trump’s and he was a contender to be his 2024 running mate before JD Vance landed the role.
Bill Hagerty – another of the running mate contenders – is also being linked to the position, as is Robert O’Brien, who served as Mr Trump’s fourth and final national security adviser during his first term.