The collapse of SVB is a disaster. How big a disaster is not yet clear.

At the very least the stockholders are out nearly 100% of their investments. Depositors with accounts that exceed the FDIC-insured limits will not have access to any funds in excess of that limit until the assets of the bank are liquidated. And hundreds of small and medium companies who rely on those funds to make payroll may or may not have to fold.

Plus, there is a significant chance of a contagion effect, where similarly situated banks are destabilized by depositors moving their assets to safer institutions.

We just don’t know the fallout. But we know for sure that a lot of people are being hurt, and many will never recover.

There are lots of things to be said about the whole affair, and innumerable bad guys to point fingers at. I did so already with Jim Cramer on Friday. But one thing is coming into focus already that may or may not be relevant to the collapse, but at the very least it is striking.

SVB was very very woke. It was heavily into ESG, was connected to the World Economic Forum, and its Risk Management leader is a queer activist.

Good to know that Jay Ersapah had their eye on the ball.

So I was struck by this take from this woman, Christina Qi, who lamented the fall of SVG because of the disproportionate impact it would have on…Leftist causes.

Board of MIT, and Forbes. Forbes named SVB a top 5 bank a few days before the institution collapsed. I don’t know or care about the criteria they used, because whatever they say those criteria are very, very off. The bank died days after naming the institution a top bank.

So what did Ms. Qi say that triggered me so? You can read it yourself:

The SVB collapse has been devastating in more ways than one: They supported women, minorities, & the LGBTQ community more than any other big bank. This includes not just diverse events, but actual funding. SVB helped us move one step forward; without them, we move two steps back.

— Christina Qi (@christinaqi) March 11, 2023

3) The SVB staff are one-of-a-kind. Many of them come from traditional banks with toxic cultures. SVB allowed them break the mold & create a healthy, innovative startup ecosystem. My heart goes out to all of the hardworking staff who were affected by this. This isn't your fault

— Christina Qi (@christinaqi) March 11, 2023

That is quite a take, given the damage wrought by the collapse of the bank. SVB collapses, LGBTQ activists hurt most. Oh, yeah. Some others too. But damn SVB was great for activists.

Perhaps an atmosphere that was a bit more toxic by Christina’s standards would have been a good thing. Just sayin’. A bit of focus on risk management and avoiding total collapse might have required spending some time away from protesting for drag queens or something, but it might also have meant that all those businesses scrambling to keep the cash flowing might avoid all the problems, including potential bankruptcy, that they are facing.

Please keep that in mind before you judge or point fingers. Many people have been hurt by this, on all sides. While we wait for the FDIC's next move, let's work together to rebuild the startup ecosystem.

— Christina Qi (@christinaqi) March 11, 2023

Don’t point fingers. Really, everybody has the best motives. They were well regarded by the World Economic Forum, as was FTX, so it’s all good. They are effective altruists or something.

Think this document about SVB's World Economic Forum Index might be relevant to anything?
PDF: https://t.co/7EAJqDdpqY pic.twitter.com/9sai43pxCF

— James Lindsay, loved but ineffective (@ConceptualJames) March 11, 2023

No matter how absurd you imagine the Smartest People in the World™ are, they are more absurd than you can possibly imagine. The destruction they wreak upon the world is incalculable, and yet they almost always fail upwards while leaving a trail of literal and figurative bodies behind them.