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Eric Semler: Following MicroStrategy’s Lead

The chairman of Semler Scientific underscored that buying bitcoin was not just for digital asset companies.

Updated Dec 11, 2024, 9:29 p.m. Published Dec 10, 2024, 2:16 p.m.

(Pudgy Penguins) — A portrait of Semler Scientific chairman Eric Semler (CoinDesk/Pudgy Penguins)

Michael Saylor made CoinDesk's Most Influential list this year for inspiring other corporations to follow his lead and tap capital markets to buy bitcoin for their balance sheets. The first publicly traded U.S. company lured this year by the Bitcoin Pied Piper? Eric Semler, whose medical technology company, Semler Scientific, picked bitcoin as its primary reserve asset.

Semler Scientific's stock price has rocketed higher, especially amid bitcoin's sharp rally following Donald Trump's U.S. presidential win, showing the potential wisdom of the gambit — and explaining why other companies are now marching behind Saylor and Semler.

This profile is part of CoinDesk's Most Influential 2024 package. For all of this year's nominees, click here.

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Most Influential 2024 Eric Semler Semler scientific MicroStrategy Michael Saylor

Nick Baker

Nick Baker was CoinDesk's deputy editor-in-chief. He won a Loeb Award for editing CoinDesk's coverage of FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried, including Ian Allison's scoop that caused SBF's empire to collapse. Before joining in 2022, he worked at Bloomberg News for 16 years as a reporter, editor and manager. Previously, he was a reporter at Dow Jones Newswires, wrote for The Wall Street Journal and earned a journalism degree from Ohio University. He owns more than $1,000 of BTC and SOL.