‘Chasing yield’ was an inside joke at SVB—until it led to the bank’s collapse

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Here’s a now not-so-funny joke from 2011. It’s a signed cartoon painting of three executives in the parking lot of a branch of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), all chasing little Dr. Seuss characters with “Yield 1” and “Yield 2” written on them. 

A reminder: SVB famously failed in March of 2023, at least in part, because it chased yield.