Gregory W. Becker

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Not to be confused with Gregory R. Becker, a Republican politician from New York.
Gregory W. Becker
Becker in 2015
Born1967 or 1968 (age 56–57)
NationalityAmerican
EducationIndiana University (B.A.)
Known forFinal CEO of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) prior to its collapse in 2023

Gregory W. Becker (born 1967 or 1968[1]) is an American business executive who was the chief executive officer of SVB Financial Group from 2011 to 2023.[2] He also was the final chief executive officer of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and a board member of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco before SVB’s collapse in 2023.[3][4]

Early life and education

Becker grew up on his family's 300-acre (120 ha) farm in Fort Wayne, Indiana.[5] His father ran a business supply company.[6] He received a bachelor's degree in finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.[4][7][8]

Career

Becker's first job out of college was at a Comerica branch in Detroit.[5] Initially, the bank's records erroneously showed that he held a Master of Business Administration; he corrected the error, but it opened up opportunities for him.[8] His manager offered him an opportunity to spend nine months working in the bank's branch in Pleasanton, California. Drawn by the weather, he stayed and worked at a small bank that Comerica had acquired in San Jose.[5]

In 1993, Becker followed his manager to Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).[5] One of his first deals as a loan officer there was to lend $350,000 to a company that would get acquired by Cisco for $100 million. In 1996, he opened the bank's branch in Boulder, Colorado.[8]

In 1999, he returned to Silicon Valley to found SVB Capital, the group's venture capital fund management division.[8][9] He rose through the ranks to become the bank's chief banking officer, chief operating officer, and, in 2008, its president. He was promoted to president of parent company SVB Financial Group in 2010, then became the chief executive officer of both companies on April 21, 2011.[10][11][12]

Silicon Valley Bank failure

Main article: Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank

On February 27, 2023, Becker sold 12,451 shares of company stock, worth a total of $3.6 million. The sale was made through an executive trading plan filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on January 26, 2023.[13] Following news of SVB's dire financial circumstances on March 9, 2023, Becker urged venture capitalist firms to avoid panic in order to stave off a collapse.[14]

Following news of SVB's failure on March 10, 2023, Becker was reportedly no longer on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.[15] In the aftermath of SVB's collapse, Becker received criticism from Senator Elizabeth Warren,[16] Representative Ro Khanna of California, and Mayor Matt Mahan of San Jose, who called for money from the stock sale to be clawed back and given to depositors.[17][18] Reports and photos show that immediately after the SVB collapse, Becker flew first class to his $3.1 million cottage in Hawaii, leaving his colleagues to deal with the failure.[19]

Following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, Becker remained a board member and the CEO of Silicon Valley Financial Group, the former parent of Silicon Valley Bank, until April 19, 2023 when he resigned both roles.[20]

Affiliations

Becker delivered the opening remarks at the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit.

Becker is on the West Coast Advisory Board of the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the Kelley School of Business[21] and, since 2021, the Guiding Council of One Mind at Work, a group that advocates for workplace mental health.[22][23]

Until the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023, Becker represented the bank in several organizations, including trade groups that supported the bank's business agenda.[24] He was a Class A Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco from January 2019;[12] the executive council of the TechNet trade association from 2016, including as chair from 2020 to 2022;[24] and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group's executive board from 2011, including as chair from 2014 to 2017.[9][25]

He was on the executive advisory board of the Alliance for Southern California Innovation from 2017 to 2018[12][23] and on the United States Department of Commerce's Digital Economy Board of Advisors from 2016 to 2017.[3]

Personal life

Becker is a competitive cyclist. In 2010, he raised $500,000 for Best Buddies on a 100-mile (160 km) ride in California.[26]

References

  1. ^ "SVB Financial Group 2023 Proxy Statement". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 3 March 2023. p. 15.
  2. ^ Goldman, David (2023-04-21). "SVB Financial Group: CEO Greg Becker and CFO Daniel Beck have resigned | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  3. ^ a b Lang, Hannah (2023-03-11). "Who is Greg Becker, the head of failed Silicon Valley Bank?". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  4. ^ a b Derby, Michael S. (2023-03-11). "CEO of failed Silicon Valley Bank no longer a director at San Francisco Fed". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  5. ^ a b c d Milligan, Jack (First Quarter 2022). "An ecosystem of one: How SVB Financial became the venture capital industry's leading bank" (PDF). Bank Director. Brentwood, Tennessee: DirectorCorps. p. 12.
  6. ^ Eisen, Ben; Foldy, Ben; Baer, Justin; Miao, Hannah (2023-03-13). "CEO Greg Becker Was There for SVB's Quick Rise and Even Quicker Fall". The Wall Street Journal. New York City. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  7. ^ Cook, John (2012-06-01). "Silicon Valley Bank's Greg Becker: Why Facebook's stock fall may be a good thing". GeekWire. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  8. ^ a b c d Smith, Scott S. (October 7, 2021). "Greg Becker's Silicon Valley Bank Funds The World's Innovators". Investor's Business Daily. Los Angeles. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Greg Becker". Santa Clara, California: Silicon Valley Bank. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  10. ^ Segall, Eli (January 20, 2011). "Exec reorg at SVB Financial, profit down". Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. San Jose, California: American City Business Journals. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  11. ^ Ritholtz, Barry (2021-08-15). "Transcript: Greg Becker". The Big Picture. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  12. ^ a b c "Leadership and Membership Announcements for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's Board of Directors" (Press release). San Francisco: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. January 10, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  13. ^ Weinstein, Austin (March 10, 2023). "Silicon Valley Bank CEO sold $3.6 million in stock days before the bank's failure". SiliconValley.com. Bloomberg. Archived from the original on March 11, 2023. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  14. ^ Griffith, Erin; Copeland, Rob (2023-03-10). "Silicon Valley Bank's Financial Stability Worries Investors". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  15. ^ Flitter, Emily; Copeland, Rob (2023-03-10). "Silicon Valley Bank Fails After Run on Deposits". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  16. ^ Warren, Elizabeth (March 13, 2023). "Elizabeth Warren: We Can Prevent More Bank Failures". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  17. ^ Neukam, Stephen (2023-03-12). "Khanna: Money from Silicon Valley Bank stock sale should be 'given to the depositors'". The Hill. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  18. ^ "San Jose mayor blasts 'weak' government response to Silicon Valley Bank collapse". San José Spotlight. San Jose, California. March 12, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  19. ^ "Ex-Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker jets to Hawaii after collapse". New York Post. New York, New York. March 16, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  20. ^ Goldman, David (2023-04-21). "SVB Financial Group: CEO Greg Becker and CFO Daniel Beck have resigned | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  21. ^ "JCEI Boards". Bloomington, Indiana: Kelley School of Business. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  22. ^ "Global Leaders Make Commitment to Prioritizing Mental Health in the Workplace" (Press release). Rutherford, California: One Mind at Work. October 14, 2021. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  23. ^ a b SVB Financial Group (April 21, 2022). "Schedule 14A". Washington, D.C.: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. p. 4 – via EDGAR.
  24. ^ a b Schwartz, Brian (March 16, 2023). "Silicon Valley Bank ex-CEO backed Big Tech lobbying groups that targeted Dodd-Frank, sought corporate tax cuts". CNBC. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  25. ^ Geha, Joseph (March 14, 2023). "Silicon Valley Bank CEO leaves powerful board". San José Spotlight. San Jose, California. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  26. ^ Schubarth, Cromwell (June 2, 2015). "Seasoned by Silicon Valley's cycles, tech banker Greg Becker rides on". Silicon Valley Business Journal. San Jose, California. Retrieved March 13, 2023.

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