Craig Coben

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. They’re at it again. “MicroStrategy Incorporated d/b/a Strategy” — the enterprise software company turned bitcoin maximalist — has announced a […]

Few tales in corporate finance are as audacious, bewildering, or downright entertaining as that of the company formerly known as MicroStrategy. This once-humdrum business-software vendor has transformed into a high-octane bitcoin investment vehicle under the flamboyant leadership of Michael Saylor,

The saga of MicroStrategy reads like financial fiction brought to life. Its improbable resurrection from near-bankruptcy, its audacious pivot in August 2020 from software vendor to bitcoin maximalist, the thorny legal entanglements, its messianically charismatic leader, its once-in-a-generation stock price

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The writer is a former global head of equity capital markets at Bank of America and is now a managing

History, they say, doesn’t repeat, but it often rhymes. Bitcoin-hodling MicroStrategy is an excellent example. In early 2000, MicroStrategy embodied the excesses of the dotcom bubble: Super Bowl advertisements, a sky-high stock price of $333, a $25bn market cap, and

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. In the third season of Breaking Bad, Mike Ehrmentraut warns Walter White: “No more half-measures, Walter.” When you’re on a

Initial public offerings have long stood as the tentpole attraction of investment banking, combining financial number-crunching and flamboyant showmanship. Banks send their biggest hitters to pitch for top-line roles, investors jostle for allocations, CEOs triumphantly ring the opening bell, and

Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Investment Banking myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. As year-end approaches, investment banks embark on one of their most hallowed (and often groaned-about) traditions: the 360-degree performance review.