Some Dem tech investors who have spent millions of dollars currying favor with the Biden administration are furious about what they call the White House’s utter lack of help over the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
One of the deep-pocketed venture capitalists told The Post that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s statement Sunday throwing cold water on the possibility of a bailout was “pathetic.”
Others said that unlike the financial crisis of 2008, when bankers and government officials were in constant dialogue, there doesn’t appear to even have been much communication to date between the administration and Silicon Valley as to how the government should respond.
“I don’t think the channels are nearly as open as they used to be,” a plugged-in venture capitalist told The Post. “I’m not part of the dialogue, and I don’t know who is.”
The critics said there is growing concern the White House cares more about politics than actually implementing policy to help depositors.
“We’re calling on the government not to politicize this,” the source said. “The concern is this turns into a ‘stick it to the tech jerks’ narrative in DC.
“That would be a new low.”
Supporters of swift government intervention are quick to note that protecting SVB’s depositors is essential to maintaining a strong financial system.
“Eroding trust in the deposit system has nothing to do with tech,” the source said.
Ninety-eight percent of all political contributions from people who worked at Internet companies went to Democrats in 2020, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.
Another estimate from a GovPredict analysis of Federal Election Commission data showed that people living in counties considered to be Silicon Valley gave nearly $200 million to Democrats.
“All these democratic donations didn’t appear to be helpful,” the source said grimly.
Since Friday, more than 300 venture-capital firms — including Greylock and Sequoia — have signed a statement of support for SVB that says they would plan to continue working with SVB if it is bailed out.
“The events that unfolded over the past 48 hours have been deeply disappointing and concerning. In the event that SVB were to be purchased and appropriately capitalized, we would be strongly supportive and encourage our portfolio companies to resume their banking relationship with them,” the letter says.
