The former CEO of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is being criticized for the failure of the bank because he refused to give up any of the $10 million a year he got from the defunct lender.
Despite facing criticism for his role in the bank’s failure, Greg Becker, the former Silicon Valley Bank CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, remains adamant and refuses to return any of the $10 million he earned from the bank.
Becker tried to take the attention off from management failures when he testified before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. He attributed the bank’s downfall in March to unusual circumstances, increases in interest rates, and negative publicity on social media. He used these reasons to justify his decision. In addition, he often refused to promise any kind of financial compensation. Even though he said he was ready to work with regulators on examining remuneration.
Republicans and Democrats Angry at Becker
Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, asked Becker some questions regarding the topic. And he said, “I promise to cooperate with the regulators as they do a review,” but he did not promise to return his gains.
Both Republicans and Democrats are angry that Becker used a trade plan to sell $3.6 million worth of company stock right before the bank reported big losses.
Becker defended the stock transactions in court on Tuesday. He said that the bank’s legal counsel had given them the green light. Moreover, he said that the bonuses some staff members got for their work in 2022 were legitimate and not rushed. With such statement he tried to defend his own pay before the bank was taken over.
While being questioned, Scott Shay, the former chairman of Signature Bank, chose to state that he would not pay back any of his income. Lawmakers pointed out that the bank failures had cost the government’s deposit insurance fund billions of dollars. In addition, they said the fund had to refill by other banks.
John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, referred to the federal government’s food assistance program. He said, “The Republicans want to give a work requirement for SNAP for a hungry family.” Moreover, he questioned the need for a functional requirement after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation sold Silicon Valley Bank. He asked, “Shouldn’t you have one after we sell your bank?.”
Failure of Silicon Valley Bank
A much-anticipated study regarding the failure of Silicon Valley Bank came out on Friday. The study stated that the United States Federal Reserve called for more financial monitoring and admitted that it had shortcomings.
Gregory W. Becker, an American business professional, was the CEO of Silicon Valley Bank Financial Group from 2011 to 2023. Before the bank collapsed in 2023, he was the last CEO of SVB. In addition, he was a member of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
Greg Becker left California on the same day that Tim Mayopoulous, the new CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, tried to reassure clients. The person who was in charge of Silicon Valley Bank’s downfall doesn’t seem to have stayed around to see how things turned out. Instead, he seems to be on his way to his $3.1 million hideaway in Hawaii.
