Microsoft Faces Shareholder Pressure Over Bitcoin Investment Proposal

According to Cointelegraph, Microsoft shareholders are set to vote in December on a proposal to assess the potential of investing in Bitcoin (BTC). This initiative is spearheaded by the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), which suggests that Microsoft could face legal action from shareholders if it decides against investing and Bitcoin's value subsequently rises. Ethan Peck, deputy director of the NCPPR’s Free Enterprise Project, emphasized that if Microsoft concludes that investing in Bitcoin is not in the best interest of its shareholders and Bitcoin's value increases, shareholders might have grounds to sue the company. Microsoft's board has advised shareholders to vote against the proposal, stating that the company already considers a wide range of investable assets, including Bitcoin. Despite this, Peck believes that the proposal has initiated a crucial dialogue between Microsoft and its shareholders, potentially paving the way for a stronger proposal in 2025. He noted that the attention brought to the issue by Bitcoin advocates has been a significant step toward achieving the proposal's goals at Microsoft and other major corporations. The NCPPR, a non-partisan, free-market, independent conservative think tank, highlighted in its proposal that business intelligence firm MicroStrategy's Bitcoin investment strategy has outperformed Microsoft's stock by over 300% this year, despite MicroStrategy conducting a fraction of Microsoft's business. The research center also pointed out that institutional and corporate adoption of Bitcoin is becoming more common, particularly through spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Currently, Bitcoin is trading at $67,035, which is an 8.8% decrease from $73,562 six days ago when it nearly reached a new all-time high.