March 10 (Reuters) – Greg Becker, the chief govt officer who presided over the collapsed Silicon Valley Financial institution, joined the corporate three a long time in the past as a mortgage officer.
The manager reduce his enamel throughout the dotcom bubble and later steered the startup-focused lender within the wake of the 2008 international monetary disaster. He turned president and CEO of SVB Monetary Group (SIVB.O) in 2011.
The corporate’s operations abruptly got here to a halt on Friday as California banking regulators moved rapidly to close it down in what turned the most important financial institution failure for the reason that monetary disaster. Simply 24 hours earlier, Becker had personally referred to as shoppers to guarantee them their cash with the financial institution was protected.
The manager despatched a video message to workers on Friday acknowledging the “extremely troublesome” 48 hours main as much as the financial institution’s collapse.
“It is with an extremely heavy coronary heart that I am right here to ship this message,” he stated in a video seen by Reuters. “I am unable to think about what was going by way of your head and questioning, you recognize, about your job, your future.”
Becker, who served on the board of administrators on the Federal Reserve Financial institution of San Francisco, departed the board efficient Friday, a spokesperson for the regional Fed financial institution stated.
Newest Updates
View 2 extra tales
In January, Becker stated the financial outlook was bettering after a downbeat 2022.
“We’re optimistic as a result of our crystal ball is just a little clearer,” Becker instructed CNBC. Whereas he anticipated public markets to stabilize, “we nonetheless suppose within the first half there may be going to be extra volatility.”
Becker graduated from Indiana College with a bachelor’s diploma in enterprise, in keeping with Silicon Valley Financial institution’s web site. From there, he labored at a financial institution that served what he referred to as “conventional corporations.” When his supervisor left to work for Silicon Valley Financial institution, Becker adopted, he stated in 2021 on a Bloomberg podcast.
Representatives for Silicon Valley Financial institution didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The banker described his first few years at SVB as “the very best of highs and the bottom of lows” because the lender navigated the tech rout of the late Nineties.
“We took losses. It was a difficult time for us… I look again on it fondly. I discovered quite a bit in regards to the establishment. I discovered quite a bit about how one can lend cash,” he stated.
Earlier than turning into president and CEO of SVB Monetary Group, Becker co-founded SVB Capital, the corporate’s funding arm. He additionally served because the chairman of the Silicon Valley Management Group from 2014 to 2017 and was a member of the U.S. Commerce Division’s Digital Economic system Board of Advisors from 2016 to 2017. Becker cycles in his free time and has 5 grown kids.
Silicon Valley Financial institution’s web site calls Becker a “champion of the innovation financial system.” In a video for the BBC in December, Becker stated his finest profession recommendation was for job seekers to construct a skill-set across the innovation financial system in fields like pc programming and venture administration.
“When you consider your alternative, if you’re under-represented (and have) these abilities, it really is countless,” he stated.
Reporting by Hannah Lang in Washington; Enhancing by Lananh Nguyen, Josie Kao and Raju Gopalakrishnan
: .
