Gregory Becker, the chief executive of Silicon Valley Bank, leaned back in his chair at a technology conference last week in San Francisco’s luxurious Palace Hotel, and delivered a bullish message.In the confident, almost bombastic, style that was his signature, Mr. Becker told the audience of investors, Wall Street analysts and technology executives that Tuesday afternoon that the future of the tech industry was sparkling — and so was Silicon Valley Bank’s place within it.What he didn’t say was that, roughly a week earlier, the rating agency Moody’s had called to tell Mr. Becker that his bank’s financial health was in jeopardy, and its bonds were in danger of being downgraded to junk. Realizing the bank needed to raise cash, …
