Elon Musk says ‘open’ to the idea of buying Silicon Valley Bank

Elon Musk is open to the idea of buying the Silicon Valley Bank, he said in a Twitter post. It all started  when Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan suggested that Twitter should consider buying SVB and turning it into a digital bank. Musk responded to the tweet by saying, "I’m open to the idea."

The closure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), which mainly invested in start-ups worldwide, has rattled the Indian start-up ecosystem. The closure of SVB is being touted as the largest bank closure since the failure of Lehman Brothers, which led to the 2008 financial crisis. It has been shut down by US regulators, and its assets have been seized, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said on March 10.

SVB is the first FDIC-insured bank to fail in more than two years, the last being Almena State Bank in October 2020.

The development has shocked the tech industry worldwide, as tech unicorns and SaaS were the biggest customers for SVB. Silicon Valley Bank in all had $209 billion in total assets and about $175.4 billion in total deposits, as of December 2022.

An official statement issued by the authorities said all insured depositors will have full access to their insured deposits no later than Monday morning, March 13, 2023. The FDIC will pay uninsured depositors an advance dividend within the next week. Uninsured depositors will receive a receivership certificate for the remaining amount of their uninsured funds. As the FDIC sells the assets of Silicon Valley Bank, future dividend payments may be made to uninsured depositors.

The DINB will maintain Silicon Valley Bank’s normal business hours. Banking activities will resume no later than Monday, March 13, including on-line banking and other services. Silicon Valley Bank’s official checks will continue to clear. Under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, the FDIC may create a DINB to ensure that customers have continued access to their insured funds.