Silicon Valley Bank’s Board of Directors was packed with Democrats and Hillary/Biden/Obama donors – only one board member had investment banking experience – Tom King, the former CEO of Barclays.
SVB was in FDIC receivership on Friday after investors withdrew more than $40 billion in a run on the bank.
The so-called bank regulators somehow ‘failed’ to notice Silicon Valley Bank was a ticking time bomb when more than two-thirds of its deposits were invested in mortgage-backed securities that yielded 1.5% as the Fed raised rates 450 basis points last year, according to its balance sheets.
The board of directors was composed of 7 men and 5 women.
According to the New York Post, one board member was a Hillary Clinton megadonor who went to a Shinto shrine to pray after Trump won the 2016 election.
The New York Post reported:
One is a Hillary Clinton mega-donor who went to a Shinto shrine to pray after Donald Trump won the White House. Another worked for President Barack Obama before her own political career spectacularly failed. A third is a prolific contributor to Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi — who owns a Napa Valley vineyard just 15 minutes from the former House speaker’s.
There’s even an improv performer.
The 12 directors who were supposed to oversee fallen Silicon Valley Bank — and prevent the catastrophic errors that threw the entire banking system into jeopardy on Friday — might not be household names.
But they are facing a series of investigations into their collective role in its collapse.
A Post examination of the board reveals it did not jibe with Silicon Valley’s young image: Only one independent director is under 60, while the oldest is 78.
SVB touted its diversity, though, noting in its 2022 proxy statement that 45% of its board are women, in addition to “other diversity” like “one black” member, “one LGQBT+” and “two veterans.”
The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
‘I prayed at a Shinto shrine after Hillary lost’
Director Kate Mitchell, 64, is a Hillary Clinton mega-donor who was so upset by Donald Trump’s 2016 victory that she went to a shrine in Kyoto that Thanksgiving.
“I prayed for me and us to get beyond our grieving and shock and to figure out how to engage and listen to what happened and come back together,” Mitchell told CNBC.
The prayers came after she had donated $50,000 to the Hillary victory fund.
Prior to the election, Mitchell celebrated how 97% of technology company employees’ donations were going to Clinton.
The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.