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Fortune
Fortune
Andrea Guzman

Here's what it looked like outside Silicon Valley Bank after it shutdown

(Credit: Justin Sullivan—Getty Images)

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation seized the assets of Silicon Valley Bank Friday in the largest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis. 

Before its sudden collapse, Silicon Valley Bank was the 16th largest in the country, with 17 branches in California and Massachusetts. The bank is a backbone of the tech startup economy, serving as a lender and holding the accounts for venture capital firms and startups.

As worries about SVB's financial health spread on Thursday, the bank urged clients to “stay calm." But many VC investors advised their portfolio companies to get their money out while they still could, sparking a rush of panicked withdrawals that echoed the devastating bank runs of the Great Depression.

The scene on Friday was grim as SVB clients tried to figure out what the bank's abrupt closure meant for them. Some people turned up at Silicon Valley Bank branches, seeking answers or hoping to withdraw money. They did not receive

SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 10: A worker (C) tells people that the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) headquarters is closed on March 10, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. Silicon Valley Bank was shut down on Friday morning by California regulators and was put in control of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Prior to being shut down by regulators, shares of SVB were halted Friday morning after falling more than 60% in premarket trading following a 60% declined on Thursday when the bank sold off a portfolio of US Treasuries and $1.75 billion in shares to cover declining customer deposits. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The doors at the bank's Santa Clara, Calif headquarters were closed on Friday, and staffers occasionally popped out to give the bad news to the people assembled outside. According to a video posted on Twitter, a line of people at another SVB branch pushed out onto the street, even as an "atmospheric river" drenched the area with rain and kept the region under a flood watch.

A sign posted at entrance to Silicon Valley Bank is shown in Santa Clara, Calif., Friday, March 10, 2023. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation seized the assets of the bank on Friday, marking the largest bank failure since Washington Mutual during the height of the 2008 financial crisis. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Visitors to this Silicon Valley Bank office were greeted with an announcement, hastily taped to the door, announcing the closure. The notice explained that the amount of deposits above the $250,000 FDIC insurance limit is yet to be determined, though the bank had about $209 billion in total assets and around $175.4 billion in total deposits at the end of last year.

An SVB Financial Group chart displayed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, US, on Friday, March 10, 2023. SVB Financial Group shares extended their plunge before being halted in premarket trading for pending news as prominent venture capitalists recommended companies withdraw their money from the lender, sparking further worries over its financial health and liquidity in the wider banking sector. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The bank's downfall happened astonishingly fast. On Wednesday, SVB said it would seek to raise more than $2 billion in capital to cover losses on its balance sheet. Investors took that as a bad sign and on Thursday, shares of Silicon Valley Banks' publicly-traded parent company, SVB Financial, plunged 60%. On Friday, the stock fell 60% in premarket trading and was halted.

Greg Becker, chief executive officer of Silicon Valley Bank, participates in a panel discussion during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. The event convenes the best minds in the world to tackle its most urgent challenges and to help realize its most exciting opportunities. Photographer: Lauren Justice/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker has been running the firm since 2011. During an emergency zoom call with investors on Thursday, he assured listeners that the bank had plenty of liquidity and asked clients not to panic. “We have been supporting you and your startups for 30 years. We now ask you not to panic,” Becker said on the call, according to tech news site The Information.

A delivery person drops off pizzas at Silicon Valley Banks headquarters in Santa Clara, California on March 10, 2023. - US authorities swooped in and seized the assets of SVB, a key lender to US startups since the 1980s, after a run on deposits made it no longer tenable for the medium-sized bank to stay afloat on its own. (Photo by NOAH BERGER / AFP) (Photo by NOAH BERGER/AFP via Getty Images)

One person with special access to Silicon Valley Bank on Friday was the pizza delivery guy, supplying pie-shaped sustenance to the building's cloistered occupants.

As SVB entered its new phase under FDIC receivership, worries of contagion began to spread on Friday. Share prices of other regional banks fell by more than 20% Friday, including First Republic, Western Alliance Bancorp, and PacWest Bancorp. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has been keeping an eye on SVB's fallout, saying Friday that there are a few banks she's monitoring. “When banks experience financial losses, it is and it should be a matter of concern," she said.

SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 10: Employees walk in front of a sign outside of the shuttered Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) headquarters on March 10, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. Silicon Valley Bank was shut down on Friday morning by California regulators and was put in control of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Prior to being shut down by regulators, shares of SVB were halted Friday morning after falling more than 60% in premarket trading following a 60% declined on Thursday when the bank sold off a portfolio of US Treasuries and $1.75 billion in shares to cover declining customer deposits. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Now that SVB is locked up, some startups whose cash is tied up in the bank, are scrambling to figure out how to make payroll and other expenses. “Our heads are spinning over here—not entirely sure what happens next," one startup founder told Fortune in a private message after the bank failed.

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