In brief
- FBI Director Kash Patel disclosed months late that he bought a significant amount of Strategy stock last November.
- Strategy shares have since fallen about 44%, leaving Patel's investment deep underwater if he still holds it.
- Patel said the purchase was “inadvertently omitted” from required financial disclosures.
FBI Director Kash Patel has seen his stake in Strategy collapse since making a sizable, previously undisclosed investment in the Bitcoin treasury firm last November.
Patel bought between $100,000 and $250,000 worth of stock in the Michael Saylor-founded company on November 21, according to new government filings. MSTR was trading around $181 at the time. The stock has since collapsed over 44%, to $100.55 at writing.
The FBI director did not initially disclose his investment in Strategy. He amended a required disclosure form in late May to include the Strategy buy, which he claimed were “inadvertently omitted,” according to filings obtained by NOTUS.
The stock buy should have been noted in a financial disclosure signed by Patel in early December. Under federal law, certain government employees, the FBI director included, must report securities transactions above $1,000 within 45 days.
In the intervening months, assuming he hasn‘t sold the position, Patel’s investment in Strategy has lost him anywhere between $44,000 and $110,000.
The company, Wall Street‘s most prominent crypto treasury firm, has stockpiled over 847,000 BTC, a sum worth over $52 billion at current prices. Strategy’s crypto-stashing model, while immensely successful when Bitcoin‘s price is up, has hemorrhaged value amidst the crypto market’s monthslong downturn.
In the last year, Bitcoin‘s price has fallen by over 41%, from north of $106,000 to $61,933 at writing. In the same period, Strategy’s price has plummeted as well—but even more sharply.
The Bitcoin treasury company‘s stock soared above $442 last summer, on Bitcoin’s surging price and hype surrounding the token. It has since collapsed by over 77%.
Earlier this week, analysts slashed price targets for Strategy down from $400 to $260, chiefly due to Bitcoin's “observed ongoing weakness.”