Michael Saylor has entered the yacht charter business.
The chief executive and co-founder of Tysons Corner-based MicroStrategy, a maker of business intelligence software, notified his Facebook followers this month that he had started the luxury business, called Fleet Miami.
“I have launched a company that operates yachts for owners and actively charters them under a single brand,” Saylor said in a March 1 posting. “Think of it as NetJets for yachts, albeit more exclusive and less ambitious.”
Memberships start at $250,000 for 250 credits and go up to $1 million for 1,000 credits, according to the Fleet Miami Web site. A seven-day Florida Keys trip can cost as much $280,000, depending on the yacht you choose.
The site lists nine vessels, including the 154-foot Usher and the 147-foot Harle, both owned by Saylor. The other yachts range from the 87-foot Moksha to the 36-foot Julia.
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Pursuitist, a luxury-goods blog, reported the news earlier.
Saylor’s yacht venture appears to have at least some business ties to MicroStrategy, according to state and federal records.
Florida business records list Fleet Miami's parent company as Aeromar Management, a firm incorporated in Delaware in April 2007.
Aeromar entered into an agreement with MicroStrategy in January 2011 that provides Aeromar with 150 square feet of space at MicroStrategy's headquarters and other services free of charge, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Those filings also name Saylor as Aeromar’s sole member and state that the agreement requires MicroStrategy to provide Saylor with “gross-up” payments, or financial reimbursement, for taxes he incurs as a result of the arrangement between his two companies.
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Requests for comment from a MicroStrategy spokesman brought no response. Thomas Heyer, the operations manager at Aeromar, did not return calls seeking comment.
Share this articleShareNews of Saylor's yacht business comes as a group of MicroStrategy's large shareholders have been voicing concern that his luxurious lifestyle and time away from the office have become a distraction from his business duties.
Critics cite what they see as a lagging stock price as evidence that MicroStrategy is undervalued compared with its competitors in the software and data industry.
Gil Simon, the portfolio manager for technology and entertainment at Apex Capital, a large shareholder that has been critical of MicroStrategy's performance and has called for Saylor to step aside, called Saylor's focus on a yacht company "frustrating."
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“If anyone needed further evidence of Saylor’s lack of commitment to MicroStrategy, the company he is supposed to be running on a day to day basis, this is it,” Simon said in an e-mail. “While shareholders are agonizing over the company’s inferior performance, he starts a yacht company. It is frustrating to say the least.”
The company has defended Saylor, saying he built MicroStrategy into a profitable multinational enterprise and that he remains as engaged as ever in business operations, even when he is away from the office.
Some of Saylor's time away is spent at his 18,006-square-foot mansion on the Miami waterfront, where his yachts, including Usher, are docked.
Usher, which can accommodate 12 guests in its five staterooms, “is the ultimate sport yacht combined with the refined elegance of the most luxurious gentleman’s yacht,” according to the Fleet Miami Web site.
"Play by day with an arsenal of toys from the giant swim and fishing decks: wake boarding, wind surfing, snorkeling, rendezvous diving, fishing like no other, kayaking, paddle boards ... whatever you desire. Dip into the ocean or lounge by the Jacuzzi and sun bathe from one of the many sun pads."
For more Washington business coverage, go to capbiz.biz.
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