Plunge

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB)’s share price plunged by 60% after the capital raise was revealed. Greg Becker, its chief executive, urged clients to “support us as we have supported you”. Unpersuaded, some venture capitalists told portfolio companies to run. Bill Ackman, a hedge-fund manager, suggested that the government should bail out the bank. By the morning of March 10th its shares had slid another 70% or so in pre-market trading, before a halt was called.

CNBC, a television network, reported that SVB’s capital-raising efforts had failed and that the bank was seeking to sell itself to a larger institution. Then came the announcement from the regulators.
—The Economist