If you have followed the news recently, then you know about the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB for short). It’s incredible to watch a bank run happen in real time especially with social media and our real-time news.
An interesting fact has surfaced among all the chaos. In 2019, Bloomberg compiled a list of the top paying U.S. banks in terms of salaries. Do you know who was number one? Silicon Valley Bank.
Even more interesting, do you know who was number two and three? First Republic and Signature Bank, the latter who was also recently taken over by the FDIC while the former is flirting with going under.
Companies are often told to only hire the mythical A players and pay them as much as you can. These three banks took that heart and yet, something was missing.
The lesson here is that it doesn’t matter if you have the highest paid people in your industry. You still need common sense, good processes for making decisions and an ability to avoid breathing your own exhaust.
Turns out that money cannot buy everything.
Photo by Jp Valery