Metaplanet shares fell 7.5% to 271 yen on September 7, following CEO Simon Gerovich's public response to shareholder concerns regarding governance and stock dilution. Investors expressed dissatisfaction with the explanation provided by the company leadership.
The controversy centers on the Series 10 executive option pool, which grew from approximately 46 million to 319.46 million shares due to a floating allocation formula. On August 18, the firm capped the pool at 319.46 million shares and implemented a five-year lock-up period until August 17, 2031.
On August 28, Gerovich exercised 92,000 units, converting them into 64,032,000 common shares. This transaction increased his total holdings to 79,587,500 shares. The CEO also clarified his association with MMXX Ventures Limited, which holds about 3.26% of Metaplanet, noting he has no operational role there.
Metaplanet adopted a Bitcoin-centric treasury strategy in 2024. The company uses equity markets to fund Bitcoin purchases, a process that dilutes existing shareholders. The board is now facing scrutiny over whether its oversight of the option pool mechanism was sufficient before the August 2026 cap.
