The same day, the company said it would dismiss 234 employees, a little over 10 per cent of its workforce, to counteract business setbacks, including an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and several class action suits by its shareholders who had suffered massive losses on their investments and felt they had been betrayed. During the first half of this year the company, where Mr Saylor served as chairman and chief executive officer and Mr Bansal as chief operating officer, had losses of over $85 million. Mr Saylor, trying to put the best face forward, said the staff cutback primarily involved marketing and administrative staff, 172 of whom were working at the company's Tyson's Corner headquarters. Several Indian Americans and Indians on H-1B temporary work visas who were hoping to be ultimately sponsored by MicroStrategy, are also expected to be affected by the lay-off since the company over the years had hired a considerable number keeping in mind the penchant for information technologyby Indian Americans.

Mr Bansal, along with Mr Reggie Aggarwal, a lawyer and owner of a company called Cvents, founded the Indian CEO High Tech Council more than two years ago. Both Mr Saylor and Mr Bansal maintained a high profile at the various networking receptions the council hosted. The company was also known to take its employees on an annual cruise to the Bahamas and other exotic places at the end of each year, in addition to generous bonuses. Mr Saylor and Mr Bansal - both in their mid-30s, were often featured on local television and the press as two of Washington's most eligible bachelors. Mr Saylor had also brought a 50-acre plot in Great Falls, Virginia - considered the Beverly Hills of Virginia and was said to be building a palatial mansion bigger than even the White House. He had also pledged to set up a centre in Virginia where students were to be offered scholarships and be trained in Internet development and other information technology fields. But all of this is now reportedly on hold in the wake of his company'swoes. Mr Saylor has said that he will personally give each of the dismissed employees $10,000 worth of MicroStrategy stock from his holdings, in addition to the severance package offered by the company. Mr Saylor also said that the marketing cutback would be accompanied by a shift in strategy and tone. "We concluded it was very, very important to take steps to get well, to make the business cash flow positive and get back to profitability," he said. Earlier this month, MicroStrategy told 236 college and university graduates who were offered jobs this spring that it could no longer hire them.

He told the Washington Post newspaper recently that he would delegate a wide range of operational decisions to company executives. "I personally am moving way from a hands-on entrepreneur driving a tonne of things...(from) saying I'm going I'm going to handpick every single employee and drive every major product to delegating," he said. Consequently, it is expected that Mr Bansal will take over some of the company's major initiatives and take some tough decisions in the coming months. The cutback will cost the company between $4 and $8 million in severance and other cost. The terminated employees will receive four weeks' pay, plus an additional week's pay for each year of employment. They will also have an option of working for another month while looking for new jobs, the company said. The dismissed employees would also be able to take advantage of stock options that they would have received this year and will have a year to exercise the options to purchase the stock and sell it if they choose. India AbroadNews Service