Metaplanet Shareholders Revolt Over 319M-Share Executive Windfall Tied to Bitcoin Strategy

Shareholders of Tokyo-listed Metaplanet are demanding the cancellation of roughly 273 million potential shares added to an executive options pool. The controversy stems from an adjustment mechanism that expanded management's Series 10 stock acquisition rights from 46 million to 319.464 million shares as the company repeatedly issued equity to finance Bitcoin purchases.

Although Metaplanet eliminated the adjustment mechanism in August to cap future expansion, the company froze the compensation pool at its expanded size rather than rolling it back. CEO Simon Gerovich recently exercised a portion of his rights, acquiring 64.032 million shares at ¥10 each, creating a paper spread of nearly ¥15 billion based on the current market price of ¥244. “The only way out is to roll back the 273 million extra shares, and to replace them with a new, retroactively applied incentive program.” — Shareholder Ragnar