KAY MATTHEWS was chair of Silicon Valley Bank when it entered insolvency and sparked fears of the biggest global financial crisis since 2008.
But what is the story behind the SVB executive? Did she sell shares before the bank collapsed? And do we know her net worth?
Who is Kay Matthews?
Kay Matthews was born in the late 1950s in the US and attended Texas Tech University from 1976-1980.
After graduating she joined the accountancy firm Ernst and Young – known now as EY – where she worked for more than 30 years.
According to Matthews’s LinkedIn, she started working for the partnership as an assurance senior and then partner based in The Hague, the Netherlands for 16 years.
In 1998 she moved with the firm to Texas where she made her way up the chain until she became a member of the EY board and Vice Chair and West Region Managing Partner.
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Matthews says that up until she left the accountancy, she “led a team of over 5000 professionals in EY’s audit, tax return, advisory and transactions practices in the Western United States”.
Retiring from EY in 2019 after 36 years, she quickly took up a role on Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) audit, governance, and risk committees.
SVB CEO Greg Becker hailed the contribution Matthews had brought to the bank in April 2022 and promoted her to Chair of the Board of Directors.
“Over the last three years, a period of dramatic growth and expansion for SVB, Kay’s insight, experience and leadership have been invaluable,” he said as he made the announcement.
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“SVB will benefit from her continued contributions, and her deep understanding of the innovation economy clients we serve.”
Matthews described becoming Chair of the Board of Directors as a “great opportunity” and said she was excited to “launch the next chapter” with the bank.
However, less than a year later, in March 2023, SVB entered insolvency.
Did Kay Matthews sell her SVB shares before it collapsed?
Did Kay Matthews sell shares before SVB collapsed?
Kay Matthews was among the few senior leaders at SVB to not sell her shares in the company before it collapsed.
In fact, on January 5, 2023 – just two months before the bank became insolvent – the chairman purchased an additional 1,000 shares.
The shares had an average price of $232.06, meaning that she invested an additional $232,000 into the company shortly before it entered administration.
What is Kay Matthews’s net worth?
The exact net worth of Kay Matthews is unknown. However, given their seniority at the bank and previously at the accounting firm Ernst & Young, she is thought to be worth at least $10million.
What happened to SVB?
Silicon Valley Bank collapsed after panic among investors and customers due to a sell off of bonds.
During the pandemic, SVB heavily invested customer funds in US government bonds, including those backed by mortgages. If allowed to mature over a number of years, these bonds would have made significant gains for the bank.
In the shorter term, as US interest rates rose the bond prices fell. It means that SVB’s investment portfolio lost significant money.
At the same time, the difficult market conditions meant that SVB customers started to withdraw their funds.
Without enough cash in the bank to cover the withdrawals, SVB was forced to sell some of its bonds. However, the short term marker conditions meant that these sales were made at extraordinary cost with steep losses incurred.
The sales spooked customers who raced to withdraw cash, causing a run on the bank.
