Metaplanet Board Defends Executive Share Plan Amid Dilution Backlash

The board’s defense, outlined in a September 29 letter, arrives after weeks of investor pressure over the scale of management’s share holdings. Directors argued that CEO Simon Gerovich and his team accepted significant financial risk and lower cash compensation to secure the rights, which were originally intended to align management with the company’s pivot to a Bitcoin treasury strategy. To appease critics, the board implemented a restructuring on September 11 that slashed the potential share pool by roughly 41%, reducing it to 188.19 million shares and eliminating an automatic adjustment mechanism that had previously caused the pool to expand whenever the company raised capital.

While the board maintains that the plan was vital to the company's turnaround—which saw Bitcoin holdings grow substantially—the statement leaves questions regarding the 64.03 million shares Gerovich received in August before the reduction took effect. These shares remain locked until 2031, but they were not canceled during the restructuring. Looking ahead, the company is working with an international compensation adviser to design a new performance-linked system, though details on the replacement plan remain under wraps.