While Gov. Gavin Newsom was praising President Joe Biden’s decision to protect all depositors at the failed Silicon Valley Bank on Monday, a reporter for The Intercept was digging deep into Newsom’s financials.
What did Ken Klippenstein learn?
“CADE, Odette, and PlumpJack, three wineries owned by Newsom, are listed as clients of SVB on the bank’s website. Newsom also maintained personal accounts at SVB for years, according to a longtime former employee of Newsom’s who handled his finances, and who requested anonymity to avoid professional reprisal,” Klippenstein wrote on Tuesday.
And there’s more.
“Newsom also didn’t mention his wife Jennifer Siebel’s professional ties to the bank, In 2021, Silicon Valley Bank gave $100,000 to the charity founded by Siebel, the California Partners Project, at the request of Newsom. John China, president of SVB Capital and responsible for SVB’s funds management, is himself a founding member of the California Partners Project’s board of directors.”
Related Story: AP Sources: Another California Bank Seeks Rescue After Run on Deposits
In his statement Monday, Newsom said that the Biden administration “acted swiftly and decisively to protect the American economy and strengthen public confidence in our banking system” — without revealing his connections to SVB.
Federal filings show that 85% of the funds deposited in Silicon Valley Bank were uninsured.
“Governor Newsom’s business and financial holdings are held and managed by a blind trust, as they have been since he was first elected governor in 2018,” Nathan Click, a spokesperson for Newsom, told The Intercept in an email.
Read more at The Intercept.
