This year, MicroStrategy stock sales have yielded Michael Saylor $370 million in profits.

• Last year, Michael Saylor, the founder of MicroStrategy, entered into a stock-sale agreement with the company, which permitted him to sell up to 400,000 shares this year through April.
• About $370 million has been pocketed by Saylor with over 90% of the plan in place.
• Despite a slight decline in the past month, MicroStrategy shares have still experienced a 90% increase in value this year, following a 346% surge in 2023.

Michael Saylor, founder and Bitcoin evangelist, announced a stock-sale plan with his company last summer, allowing him to sell up to 400,000 shares in the first four months of 2024.

It was a timely agreement for the 59-year-old crypto billionaire.

MicroStrategy's stratospheric rise in value has enabled Saylor to net about $370 million from this year's stock sales, with the plan more than 90% complete.

Since 1989, Saylor has been the chairman of MicroStrategy, a software and tech consulting business. Recently, he has become known as a bitcoin hero, predicting that the cryptocurrency will replace gold. In the past year, MicroStrategy has acquired over 214,000 bitcoins, using its balance sheet and capital markets.

MicroStrategy's market cap is $21.3 billion, with 1% of bitcoins minted to date worth about $13.6 billion. The stock has climbed 91% this year, despite a 37% pullback from its March high, after soaring 346% in 2023, making it one of the best performers across the U.S. stock market.

As of the end of 2023, Saylor owned 400,000 Class A shares due to an option he received in 2014. He is now selling those shares at a rapid pace.

In September, MicroStrategy and Saylor entered into a 10b5-1 plan, allowing the founder to sell up to 400,000 shares from January 2 to April 25, with each share tied to a vested stock option that expires on April 30, 2024.

According to filings, Saylor has sold 370,000 shares totaling $372.7 million as of this week. His Class A holdings are now at 30,000 shares after the latest sale disclosed on Thursday.

MicroStrategy didn't respond to requests for comment.

According to Mark Palmer, an analyst at Benchmark, the stock sales were entirely programmatic due to the trading plan executed last year and not a reflection of Saylor's confidence in MicroStrategy or his view of the stock price.

While there is a differing view in the retail investor world, some believe that Saylor may be selling MicroStrategy stock for reasons other than the company's Bitcoin strategy. Some members of the r/MSTR subreddit speculate that he is using the cash to buy Bitcoin directly. Some investors say they are selling along with Saylor. In April, MicroStrategy's stock dropped 29%, while Bitcoin fell 11%.

'Easy enough to find the truth'

Palmer, with a "buy" rating on the stock, argued that such a view would be misinterpreted by investors and traders.

"Palmer stated that what is being observed is simple and has already been disclosed. Those who may not comprehend the specifics or those who understand the details but lack a thorough understanding of the stock may distort the information. As is common, it is straightforward to discover the truth."

Despite the sale of his stock, most of Saylor's wealth is still tied up in his MicroStrategy Class B holdings and the 17,732 bitcoins he bought in 2020, which are now worth approximately $1.1 billion.

The surge in interest in Bitcoin and related investments is largely due to the approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds this year and the upcoming halving event, which reduces the rate at which new Bitcoins are introduced into the market.

MicroStrategy's ongoing advantage in the cryptocurrency market is that it is a leveraged bitcoin play without the management fee. The company can raise money to further invest in crypto, and last month it raised $782 million through a convertible debt sale at 0.625% interest.

"Could you name a company in the world that you wouldn't want to invest in, even if they could borrow $1 billion at less than 1% interest to invest in your best idea? Saylor stated on CNBC's "Squawk Box" in March. He emphasized that the company's leverage leads to volatility, which "attracts capital, and we can then leverage more.""

MicroStrategy remains a bullish investment opportunity, as stated by Benchmark's Palmer, due to the upcoming bitcoin halving. Historically, the price of bitcoin has increased following halving events.

Palmer stated that if he were in a position where he owned MicroStrategy shares, he would strongly desire to hold onto them at this particular moment.

WATCH: CNBC's full interview with Michael Saylor