The federal government’s assurances that depositors at SVB Financial Group would not lose their holdings helped contain some of the fallout from the shocking collapse of a key financial institution for the tech sector.
However, one group that will not be made whole are investors and executives, all of whom have been fired. On Monday, that message came straight from President Joe Biden himself, who voiced confidence in the banking system and tough luck for those who invested in the doomed bank.
“They knowingly took a risk, and when the risk didn’t pay off, investors lose their money,” Biden said in a speech Monday. “That’s how capitalism works.”
Here’s a rundown of how much the bank’s largest shareholders lost from its collapse, based on the $267.83 closing share price on March 8, two days before regulators stepped in and took control of the company.
Many of the largest owners are large investment groups and money managers such as pension funds. SVB’s top five owners as of end of last year were:
- The Vanguard Group Inc., which owned 6.41 million shares, equivalent to $1.71 billion
- State Street Global Advisors Funds Management Inc., which owned 3.08 million shares, equivalent to $824 million
- BlackRock Fund Advisors, which owned 3.06 million shares, equivalent to $819.5 million
- Alecta Pension Insurance Mutual, which owned 2.63 million shares, or $704 million
- JPMorgan Investment Management, which owned 2.17 million shares, or $581 million
A number of top SVB executives sold shares in the weeks leading up to the bank’s closure. CEO Greg Becker sold shares worth $3.57 million and CFO Daniel Beck sold $575,180 worth of stock in prearranged stock sales.
Here are the five top individual shareholders among SVB executives:
- CEO Greg Becker, who last reported owning 92,552 shares, equivalent to $24.78 million
- SVB President Michael Descheneaux, who last reported owning 25,489 shares, equivalent to $6.82 million
- Head of Specialty Commercial Banking Joan Parsons, who last reported owning 23,617 shares, equivalent to $5.83 million
- SVB Capital President John China, who last reported owning 22,580 shares, equivalent to $6.04 million
- Chief Credit Officer Marc Cadieux, who last reported owning 15,274 shares, equivalent to $4.39 million