Shopify Plans Stock Split, Partners With Strike for Bitcoin Payments
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Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy
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Cooper Bernier
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Pandemic-darling Shopify’s Board of Directors has approved a proposed 10-for-1 split of its stock, “which will make share ownership more accessible to all investors,” the company announced in an April 11 press release. The stock did very well during the early days of the pandemic, but is down 55.5% year-to-date. It is up slightly following the news.
“The planned share split … is subject to the approval of at least two-thirds of the votes cast by Class A and Class B shareholders present in person or represented by proxy at the Company’s upcoming Meeting, voting together as a single class. If shareholder approval is received, shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 22, 2022 will receive, after the close of business on June 28, 2022, nine additional Class A shares or Class B shares, as applicable, for every one share held,” the company stated.
Shopify is joining a slew of companies that have recently announced stock splits.
Most recently, meme stock darling GameStop announced on March 31 that it will request stockholder approval for a stock split at the upcoming 2022 annual meeting, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. Other companies making similar announcements include Tesla in late March, and Amazon and Alphabet, which announced a 20-for-1 stock split in March and February respectively.
Shopify’s stock split is part of a broader proposal, which will modernize the company’s governance structure and allow Shopify to remain mission-driven and merchant-obsessed while sustaining an innovative culture, the company said in the release.
“The shift to digital commerce has been supercharged over the last two years, permanently changing the landscape of our industry and positioning Shopify at a key inflection point in its growth story,” said Robert Ashe, Shopify’s Lead Independent Director.
In addition, payments platform Strike, built on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, announced its integration with Shopify on April 8, unlocking the ability for eligible U.S. Shopify merchants to receive Bitcoin payments from customers globally as U.S. dollars, according to a press release.
“We’re proud to partner with Shopify to provide merchants with a cheaper and faster way to accept U.S. dollars using Bitcoin technology,” Jack Mallers, founder and CEO of Strike, said. “The Lightning Network is a global payments network that lowers costs, enhances speed, drives innovation, improves financial inclusion, and brings the power of choice to consumers and merchants.”
Strike said that this will also allow Shopify merchants to generate savings through low-cost payment processing, as well as by instantly converting Bitcoin payments to dollars, which removes certain complexities merchants face in holding Bitcoin.
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