Multimillionaire Twitter Philanthropist Offers Huge Reward For Whistleblower In SVB Bank Collapse

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Zinger Key Points
  • Bill Pulte is offering a whistleblower $50,000 to uncover any crimes that leads to the conviction of an SVB executive.
  • Pulte is asking whistleblowers to turn information in to him, or his lawyer within 30 days.
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Detroit-based multi-millionaire and former director of PulteGroup, Inc. PHM Bill Pulte has garnered a reputation on social media, specifically Twitter, for being a philanthropist, doling out thousands of dollars via tweets to his followers.

He’s doing it again, but this time with a twist.

What Happened: Silicon Valley Bank failed on Friday due to a $42 billion bank run, meaning thousands of depositors and investors attempted to withdraw their money in an extremely short timeframe. The Federal government took control of the bank, assuring depositors that they will have access to their funds.

Before Silicon Valley Bank failed, some of its top executives sold millions of dollars worth of stock — Pulte is offering a whistleblower $50,000 to uncover any crimes committed during the process.

Check out Benzinga’s insider trading tool.

CEOs have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of their shareholders. This duty includes making decisions that maximize the value of the company's shares and avoiding actions that would harm the company or its shareholders.

Pulte’s $50,000 reward will go to the first whistleblower whose information leads to the successful conviction of an SVB executive. He is asking for anyone to turn cold evidence of any crimes committed to him or his lawyer within 30 days.

When a CEO sells stock before the business collapses, it could be viewed as a violation of this duty if the CEO had material non-public information that indicated the company was in trouble and that the stock price was likely to decline significantly.

If a CEO sells stock with knowledge of negative information about the company that has not yet been made public, this would be considered insider trading and is illegal.

Insider trading is a violation of securities laws, as it gives the insider an unfair advantage over other investors who do not have access to that information.

Even if the CEO did not have material non-public information, selling large amounts of stock shortly before the business collapses could be seen as a breach of fiduciary duty.

SVB CEO Greg Becker sold $3.6 million worth of stock roughly two weeks before the bank disclosed losses that led to its failure.

Shareholders rely on the CEO to act in the best interest of the company and its shareholders, and selling stock just before a significant decline in the stock price could be viewed as a breach of that duty.

Read next: How Have Bank Failures Impacted The Outlook For Interest Rates?

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