Glossary · S
Seniority
The order in which an issuer's securities are paid dividends and liquidation proceeds. Senior preferred is paid before junior preferred, which is paid before common shares. All preferred ranks behind debt.
Revised 22 October 2026 · Suggest a correction
Seniority is the priority of a security's claim on an issuer's cash flows and assets. For preferred stock it covers two things: the right to dividends before lower-ranking stock, and the right to the liquidation preference in a winding up. All preferred stock ranks behind every creditor, including bondholders and convertible noteholders.
Strategy's order (as of 22 October 2026)
From most senior to most junior preferred:
Class A and class B common stock come after all five. The STRC certificate places STRC behind STRF and ahead of STRK and STRD (8-K, 29 July 2025). STRE's prospectus supplement names STRF and STRC as senior to it and STRK and STRD as junior (424B5, 7 November 2025). STRF holders also have a consent right over the issue of any stock senior to STRF.
Strive's order
SATA ranks senior to SATS, and both rank ahead of Strive's common stock. Strive reported no consolidated debt as of 9 October 2026 (SATS 424B5).
Why it matters
Seniority affects how much of the issuer's assets would stand ahead of a given series in a downturn. Strategy's own coverage bridge and BTC Rating metrics are built on it. They divide the bitcoin reserve by the claims ranking at or above each instrument, so more senior series show higher coverage. Seniority sets an order of payment. It does not mean any payment is secured: none of these preferreds is collateralised by bitcoin.
What to check in the filing
- The "Ranking" section of the certificate of designations
- Which existing series are named as senior, parity or junior stock
- Any limit on issuing new senior or parity stock