Less than 1% of Microsoft Shareholders Voted for BTC Proposal

December 12, 2024

What to know:

  • A Securities and Exchange filing shows that less than 1% of Microsoft shareholders voted for a motion to put BTC on the company balance sheet.
  • This motion was proposed by the National Center for Public Policy Research and promoted by MicroStrategy's Michael Saylor.

Only 0.55% of Microsoft (MSFT) shareholders voted for a proposal to put bitcoin (BTC) on the company's balance sheet, according to a recent company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The proposal to add bitcoin to Microsoft's balance sheet was put to a shareholder vote on November 10 and was put forward by the National Center for Public Policy Research, which recommended that Microsoft allocate 1% of its total assets to BTC as a potential hedge against inflation.

Microsoft's board opposed the proposal, citing Bitcoin's volatility and favoring stable investments, despite Michael Saylor's pitch highlighting MicroStrategy's success and Microsoft's $200 billion capital outflow from dividends and buybacks.

Some of the other proposed shareholder motions, which would have directed the company to produce a report on AI and Misinformation/Disformation, as well as another which would highlight the risks of weapons development did not pass.

Prediction markets were skeptical that Microsoft would make a move to adopt the digital asset, with Polymarket bettors giving it a 12-16% chance of the motion being ratified.