MicroStrategy Founder Michael Saylor Agrees to $40M Settlement in D.C. Income Tax Case

• The $40 million deal is D.C.’s biggest-ever income tax fraud recovery, officials said.

• The district sued Saylor in 2022 for allegedly not paying income taxes while living in the district.

• Saylor disputes the allegations and said he settled to avoid the “burdens of litigation.”

MicroStrategy (MSTR) founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor agreed to a $40 million settlement with the District of Columbia in what officials said was the biggest-ever income tax fraud recovery in the district, the attorney general’s office announced on Monday.

The District of Columbia sued Saylor and his company in August 2022, alleging the executive paid no income taxes in the district during the more than 10 years he had lived there. It also said MicroStrategy conspired to help him do so. The attorney general’s office alleged Saylor avoided paying more than $25 million in taxes to the district, saying he had claimed to live elsewhere.

The New York Times first reported the news.

“Florida remains my home today, and I continue to dispute the allegation that I was ever a resident of the District of Columbia,” Saylor told the New York Times. “I have agreed to settle this matter to avoid the continued burdens of the litigation on friends, family, and myself.”

Shares of the Tysons Corner, Virginia-based software developer, rose 3% in pre-market trading.

UPDATE (June 3, 12:15 UTC): Updates headline and story with the statement from the attorney general’s office.