Public filings and statements from Netflix’s treasury department (via CFO Spencer Neumann) confirmed that Netflix maintained its primary depository accounts with global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) such as JPMorgan Chase and Citibank. Any cash held at SVB would have been negligible—well under the FDIC insurance limit of $250,000, if any existed. Therefore, the immediate liquidity crisis that erased $80 billion in tech startup deposits did not touch Netflix’s balance sheet.
SVB’s primary function was lending to early-stage startups and providing banking services to venture capital firms. Netflix, as a profitable, cash-flow-positive enterprise (generating ~$6 billion in free cash flow in 2023), did not rely on SVB for operating loans or payroll management. Netflix.svb
SVB was a major lender to independent film and television studios. Through its Media & Entertainment lending group, SVB provided revolving credit facilities to smaller production companies that created content for streamers like Netflix. SVB’s primary function was lending to early-stage startups