SVB’s Failure Exposes Lurking Systemic Risk of Tech’s Money Machine
Many private equity and venture capital firms found themselves facing the same counterparty risk, creating a frenetic weekend before federal intervention.
The Silicon Valley Bank office in New York. SVB was the bank of choice for startups backed by the region’s most prominent venture firms.
Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/BloombergThe collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has prompted a global reckoning at venture capital and private equity firms, which found themselves suddenly exposed all together to the tech industry’s money machine.
SVB billed itself as a one-stop shop for tech visionaries — more than just a bank, a financial partner across loans, currency management, even personal mortgages. Its tactics to bundle client services were deemed aggressive by some, but it was hard to argue with the results: business with 44% of venture-backed technology and health-care companies that went public last year, and overall explosive growth during boom times.