Michael Saylor unveils 38‑book 'Upgrade the World' reading program

MicroStrategy executive chairman Michael Saylor announced on X on 25 July a comprehensive reading curriculum titled “Upgrade the World”. The program lists 38 books grouped into eight thematic blocks covering civilization history, geography, warfare, uncertainty theory, Austrian economics, capital, energy, technology and finally cryptocurrency. Saylor estimates the total reading time at 755‑953 hours (about 13‑31 months at a steady pace). The Bitcoin component is limited to roughly ten hours and concludes with Saifedean Ammous’s *The Bitcoin Standard* and the original Bitcoin whitepaper by Satoshi Nakamoto. The list also includes Saylor’s own 2012 work *The Mobile Wave* and classic titles such as Will and Ariel Durant’s *The Story of Civilization*, Jared Diamond’s *Guns, Germs, and Steel*, John Keegan’s *The Face of Battle*, Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s *Incerto* series and Murray Rothbard’s libertarian economics texts. Intended for corporate, political, financial and technology leaders, the syllabus stresses critical, “adversarial” reading and aims to provide a decision‑making framework for complex, high‑impact issues.

The initiative reflects Saylor’s broader view that civilization’s progress hinges on clean energy, sound monetary systems and coordinated market order, with Bitcoin positioned as a tool to preserve and transfer economic value.