The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last Friday unleashed a wave of panic on the side of the world’s financial markets and caused cold sweats for a myriad of entrepreneurs, convinced that they would never be able to recover their money. But this Tuesday, the situation seems to calm down. The Paris and Frankfurt stock markets even ended the day on the rise and several investors were finally able to recover their funds, like Gilles Samoun, a tech entrepreneur, met by Europe 1.
“I have been an SVB customer since 2000. In fact, I received emails from friends, corporate executives and investors in the United States telling me to withdraw all my money, which I did,” he says at the microphone of Europe 1. Nevertheless, the few hours that followed the announcement of the closure of SVB still took on the appearance of “general panic”. “The first reaction is to try to float, to survive, so to save what we can save and which belongs to us,” he says.
Caution remains in order
Once the furniture was saved, it was already time for Gilles Samoun to project himself. “During the weekend, once it was done, we tried to understand what the consequences could be which, until Monday evening, were relatively important”. But this Tuesday, the storm seems to be decreasing in intensity. “This morning (Tuesday), we could access our accounts and make transfers in the United States. For customers, it’s ‘business as usual’ (as usual)”.
At the microphone of Europe 1, Gilles Samoun says he has not lost a penny in this story. At least “for now”. A priori protected from the most disastrous consequences of this bankruptcy, these entrepreneurs refuse however to lower their vigilance.