Metaplanet’s executive stock pool sparks shareholder backlash as CEO addresses MMXX ties — SkimNews
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- Metaplanet shareholders are demanding the company cancel 273 million newly created shares and increase transparency, after the executive stock pool expanded from 46 million to 319.5 million shares before being frozen on Aug. 18
- Bitcoin Pharaoh claimed David Bailey received 300,000 stock options at a 105 yen strike price while shares traded at 510 yen, estimating management captured 26% of the bitcoin purchased with shareholder money
- Simon Gerovich pledged to review governance and compensation policies while distancing himself from MMXX Ventures, disclosing he holds a significant but non-majority stake in MMXX's parent company and no executive role
- Metaplanet disclosed on Aug. 31 that Gerovich exercised 92,000 shares from the 10th Series executive options pool, drawing further scrutiny
- Matthew Sigel, VanEck's head of digital asset research, recommended freezing further exercise rights, voluntary surrender of excess rights, and replacing Series 10 with a shareholder-approved five-year incentive plan tied to BTC per fully diluted share
- Metaplanet shares closed up in Wednesday's Tokyo trading, trimming their five-day decline to roughly 16.3%
Why it matters: Metaplanet's executive pool grew nearly 7x from 46 million to 319.5 million shares before freezing on Aug. 18, with critics estimating management captured 26% of shareholder-funded bitcoin. VanEck's Sigel proposed replacing Series 10 with a five-year plan tied to BTC per fully diluted share, directly aligning insider pay with holders' core metric.
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