Gov. Ron DeSantis hammers Silicon Valley Bank for prioritizing woke DEI initiatives over sound policy

Silicon Valley Bank, which was shuttered by California state regulators late last week, is facing accusations that its management was preoccupied with woke initiatives instead of managing its fiduciary duties.

SVB, which became the 2nd largest U.S. bank collapse in history, served as a primary vessel for many tech startups. It was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation and the Federal Deposit Insursance Corporation (FDIC) became the receiver to protect its clients.

Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has led the fight against “diversity, equity and inclusivity” (DEI) and “environment, social, governance” (ESG) policies in the state of Florida, highlighted notable problems with the bank that led to its collapse.

“This bank, they’re so concerned with DEI and politics and all kinds of stuff, I think that really diverted from them focusing on their core mission,” DeSantis said.

“We have such a morass of federal regulations,” added the governor, also casting blame on the federal bureaucracy for the bank’s collapse. “We have a massive federal bureaucracy, and yet they never seem to be able to be there when we need them to prevent something like this."

The Daily Mail reported that Silicon Valley Bank reportedly failed to have anyone managing risk assessment at the bank for at least eight months until January this year, while the person in charge of risk management in the bank’s U.K.-based office prioritized “pro-diversity initiatives” instead of her stated role.

While many other banks often tout their commitment to ESG and DEI, SVB went above and beyond. The Daily Wire reported:

Jay Ersapah, Chief Risk Officer for the SVB in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, describes herself as a “queer person of color from a working-class background” and organized LGBTQ initiatives, including a month-long Pride campaign, the Daily Mail report outlined. Ersapah also implemented so-called safe space catch-ups for staffers and boasted of serving “underrepresented entrepreneurs.”

The bank also produced graphics and charts boasting its commitment to “increase diverse representation at all levels of the company.”

In February, DeSantis announced legislation to protect Floridians from “the woke ESG financial scam."

“By applying arbitrary ESG financial metrics that serve no one except the companies that created them, elites are circumventing the ballot box to implement a radical ideological agenda. Through this legislation, we will protect the investments of Floridians and the ability of Floridians to participate in the economy,” DeSantis said in a statement at the time.

DeSantis is widely anticipated to enter the 2024 GOP race for the Oval Office later this year.