The saying Go Woke, Go Broke found a real-life example in the form of SVB’s collapse. The conservative Claremont Institute which tracks the funding that goes into the BLM (Black Lives Matter) Movement and maintains a database of the same reveals that collapsed Silicon Valley Bank donated more than 73 million dollars to the BLM Movement and other allied causes in recent years.
In 2020, the bank had pledged to increase its commitment to “diversity, equipment, and inclusion (DEI)” in the workplace, following the outrage over the death of George Floyd.
Will Hild, the executive director of Consumers’ Research, while talking to The Federalist, a right-wing media, said that SVB’s failure on the heels of its left-wing activism “is yet another indication that SVB was focused on woke virtue signalling instead of protecting their customers’ deposits.”
“Time after time we see the same pattern: companies that are the most concerned with ESG scores and woke politics do the worst jobs serving their customers,” Hild explained. “The rest of corporate America should learn from SVB’s failure now before they are the next company to make headlines for comically poor management.”
In August of 2020, SVB published a report that said “Innovation is global and is touching every aspect of our lives, which is creating even more need for inclusiveness of ideas and approaches, we are on a journey committed to increasing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in our workplace, with our partners and across the innovation economy.”
The report further goes on to say “In recent months, we’ve expanded our philanthropic giving through corporate donations and employee matching programs. These programs focus on pandemic response, social justice, sustainability and supporting women, Black and Latinx emerging talent and other underrepresented groups.”
Moreover, it also has been reported that the head of financial risk management at Silicon Valley Bank in UK was busy with LGBTQ campaigns in recent times. Jay Ersapah, the head of financial risk management, had organised a month-long pride campaign when the bank was collapsing. Jay Ersapah identifies as a queer working-class person, and co-chaired the European LGBTQ Employee Resource Group. She was included on SVB’s “Outstanding LGBT+ Role Models List 2022.”
Responding to the collapse of the bank, Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus has suggested that “woke” policies like the ones launched by Ersapah could have led to SVB’s dramatic failure. “I feel bad for all of these people that lost all their money in this woke bank. You know, it was more distressing to hear that the bank officials sold off their stock before this happened. It’s depressing to me. Who knows whether the Justice Department would go after them? They’re a woke company, so I guess not. And they’ll probably get away with it,” he said on Fox News while appearing on “Cavuto Live” hosted by Neil Cavuto.
Notably, the BLM has received huge donations from hundreds of companies such as Apple, Amazon, American Express, Blackrock, Boeing etc. The total funds that the BLM movement has received till now stand at a whopping $82,889,408,433.
Opindia published a report on how BLM leaders bought a house worth $6 Million. The house secretly purchased by three leaders associated with BLM was more than 6,500 square feet and had half a dozen bedrooms and bathrooms, several fireplaces, a soundstage, a pool, and a bungalow. The real estate listings also mentioned that the property has parking for more than 20 cars.
Silicon Valley Bank’s obsession was not limited to BLM, they also donated heavily to other ‘woke’ causes. Last year, the SVB Financial Group pledged $5 billion in loans to support anti-emissions efforts by 2027. The project aimed “to support companies that were working to decarbonize the energy and infrastructure industries and hasten the transition to a sustainable, net zero emissions economy”
It is believed that the Silicon Valley Bank has collapsed due to its lending practices being based on activist causes rather than financial metrics. The bank’s leadership failed to recognize the potential risks associated with lending based on non-financial metrics. The bank had disregarded traditional banking principles such as creditworthiness and profitability in favour of social impact and environmental sustainability.
The failure of the bank has raised questions about the role of activism in banking and whether banks should prioritize social causes over financial metrics. Experts have pointed out that while there is a growing demand for ethical banking, banks must not forget their primary goal of ensuring profitability and risk management.
This bank’s failure serves as a cautionary tale for other banks that may be considering a similar approach to lending. While it is essential to support social and environmental causes, banks must do so within the framework of sound banking practices and risk management principles.