Better.com
Indian-origin CEO, who fired over 900 employees on a brutal Zoom call, now loses own job
Indian-American entrepreneur Vishal Garg, who became widely known in 2021 after dismissing more than 900 employees during a four-minute Zoom call, is seeking to return as chief executive of New York-headquartered mortgage company Better Home & Finance, which runs ibusiness as Better or Better.com.
Garg was removed from the CEO position earlier this month after Daniel Lewis, who had recently joined Better's board, took over as interim chief executive.
He has disputed the circumstances of his removal and accused Lewis of misleading him about his intentions before assuming control of the company.
Speaking to CNN, Garg alleged that Lewis gained the confidence of Better's board and senior executives by publicly backing the company's strategy before eventually taking the top position.
“He hoodwinked me,” Garg told CNN. “He said he liked the company’s strategy. He praised us on X and used that to get on our board and win our confidence.”
Better board removes Garg from CEO role
Better appointed Lewis as interim CEO on August 3, shortly after he joined the company's board on July 27.
An initial company announcement said Garg and the board had “mutually agreed” to the leadership transition. Better subsequently clarified that its board, excluding Garg, had unanimously voted to terminate him.
The company cited concerns about Garg's “judgment, temperament and credibility” in its decision to remove him.
Garg has rejected that assessment and is now seeking to regain the position.
He has argued that his ouster came as Better's financial position began to improve after several difficult years for the mortgage company.
Better's financial struggles
Better was valued at about $8 billion during the refinancing boom of the pandemic era, but the company later faced severe pressure as mortgage rates rose and the refinancing market contracted.
According to Garg, Better's annual sales fell sharply from $1.5 billion in 2021 to $70 million in 2023.
He now claims the company is on course to generate about $200 million in sales this year, with growth being supported by artificial intelligence-powered mortgage processing technology and strategic partnerships.
“We’re winning. We’ve tripled loan volume. We’re close to profitability,” Garg said.
“We were at the 5-yard line after taking the ball all the way down the field from the other side,” he added.
Garg questions Lewis' role in his ouster
Garg said Lewis had advised him for several months on measures aimed at reducing costs and improving Better's profitability before joining the company's board.
Lewis joined the board on July 27, and within days was appointed interim CEO.
Garg said the sequence of events had led him to question whether Lewis had been seeking the chief executive's position.
“I suspect he always wanted to become CEO,” Garg said, adding that he believed “the board made a mistake”.
Garg also accused Lewis of building support within the company by publicly endorsing Better's strategy before gaining a position on the board.
Garg remains on Better board
Although he has lost the CEO position, Garg remains a member of Better's board.
He said several investors contacted him following his removal and encouraged him to seek a return to the company's top executive role.
Garg also claims that he retains enough voting power, including backing from early investors, to potentially regain control of the company.
He has hired prominent lawyer Alex Spiro, a partner at Quinn Emanuel, and formally asked Better's board to reinstate him as CEO.
Garg has also offered to work for $1 a year until Better becomes profitable. He said he would eventually step away from the company after helping it reach that stage.
“It’s an acknowledgement that I’ve been doing this for 10 years, but execution hasn’t been perfect,” Garg said.
“I hope it gets resolved. I think the future still remains very bright for Better,” he added.
Garg's 'brutal' 2021 Zoom call
Garg first became internationally known after a December 2021 video call in which he announced the dismissal of more than 900 Better employees.
The mass layoffs, delivered through a Zoom call lasting only about four minutes, drew widespread attention and criticism over the manner in which the employees were informed.
Garg later apologised for the way he handled the dismissals, acknowledging that his communication had been insensitive.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
