Bitcoin Holdings of Japanese Listed Company Metaplanet Surpass El Salvador

On May 12, it was reported that Simon Gerovich, CEO of the Japanese listed company Metaplanet, stated on social media that after acquiring an additional 1,241 Bitcoins today, Metaplanet's total Bitcoin holdings have increased to 6,796, surpassing El Salvador's holdings (6,714 Bitcoins). It is known that the CEO of Metaplanet was formerly the head of the equity derivatives department at Goldman Sachs. Since 2013, he has been operating Metaplanet (formerly Red Planet Japan Inc.) as a hotel developer. However, the pandemic led to an economic slowdown, forcing the company to close most of its hotels, leaving only one in operation. When the market value once fell to about $15 million, UTXO Management invested in the company, leading it to adopt a Bitcoin strategy. Since then, the number of Metaplanet shareholders has grown to nearly 50,000, and its market value has soared to $2 billion, making it the best-performing stock among companies with a global market value exceeding $250 million in 2024. Recently, it announced the largest public equity financing in Asia's history, planning to raise $750 million to purchase Bitcoin.