The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has dominated the news in the last few days because it’s the second-biggest bank failure in US history and the worst since the financial crisis of 2008. As we reported, the bank’s CEO, Greg Becker, got ahead of the storm, selling $3.6 million in the company’s stock before it failed, so it looks like he’ll be okay despite many other folks not being able to get their money. Turns out, other top executives did too:
Gregory Becker, CEO, sold 11% on Feb 27, 2023.
Michael Zucker, Counsel, 19% on Feb 5.
Daniel Beck, CFO, 32% on Feb 27.
Michelle Draper, CMO, 25% on Feb 1. THEY ALL KNEW.
But it seems that the real issue with Silicon Valey Bank is the fact that the head of risk management was focused on something more “important” that their bank.
We have a printscreen:
A risk officer typically anticipates and manages regulatory, operational, competitive or other risks faced by a firm. SVB’s risk chief reports directly to a “Risk Committee,” which includes chairpersons of SVB’s Board and all the Board committees, in addition to the chief executive officer, according to filings from the company. The committee is responsible for hiring, evaluating and terminating the CRO, and as of 2023, was made up of seven members.
Jay Ersapah, has been accused of prioritizing LGBTQ initiatives, including organizing a month-long pride campaign and launched safe space catch-ups for staff before SVB lost billions and collapsed on Friday, March 10. Ersapah, who tags herself as ‘a queer person of colour from a working-class background,’ in a video, released nine months ago, said that she “could not be prouder to work for SVB serving underrepresented entrepreneurs.”
The update comes after global banking and financial stocks took a massive hit after SVB collapsed sending investors into a frenzy following a decline in its stock that led to a market loss of $1.8 billion. And with this, SVB became the largest bank to collapse since the 2008 financial crisis.
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