The tech executive who became widely known for firing 900 employees over Zoom shortly before Christmas has now lost his own seat at the top.
Vishal Garg, founder and former CEO of mortgage lender Better Home & Finance, told CNN that the company’s board removed him from the chief executive role on August 3, choosing Daniel Lewis to lead the business instead.
The leadership shake-up comes after years of turmoil for Better, a company whose troubles entered the national spotlight with Garg’s widely criticized December 2021 video call to staff.
‘This isn’t news that you’re going to want to hear. If you’re on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off. Your employment here is terminated effective immediately,’ he told workers during the stark Zoom announcement.
Garg later issued an apology, saying he had failed ‘to show the appropriate amount of respect and appreciation for the individuals who were affected.’
But the fallout did not end there. Better Home & Finance went on to face additional scrutiny, including a whistleblower lawsuit that was eventually dropped and an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which ultimately found no wrongdoing.
The company’s financial picture also sharply deteriorated. By 2023, Better’s stock had plunged 93 percent, while annual sales collapsed from $1.5 billion in 2021 to just $70 million.
Better’s market value is now estimated at about $300 million, a dramatic fall from its $8 billion valuation during the pandemic-era refinancing surge, when mortgage rates sank to historic lows.
But Garg insists he was about to turn the mortgage company around when he was unceremoniously replaced.
Vishal Garg was ousted from his position as CEO of Better Home & Finance on August 3
Board members voted unanimously to appoint Daniel Lewis (pictured) as the new CEO
This year, he said, the company is on pace to deliver $200 million in sales.
He attributed that success to the company’s decision to train AI models to quickly process mortgages and the company’s new partnership with Neo Home Loans, which Garg said doubled productivity and slashed loan origination costs in half.
Major firms like Intuit, Coinbase and OpenAI have also partnered with Better this year to power their own mortgage services, while Better Home & Finance also developed a strong home equity line of credit business.
‘We’re winning,’ Garg insisted. ‘We’ve tripled loan volume. We’re close to profitability.
‘We were at the five-yard line after taking the ball all the way down the field from the other side.’
He then went on to acknowledge that the infamous Zoom layoffs severely damaged the company’s reputation.
But he claimed Lewis convinced the board that he didn’t push employees hard enough as he usurped the CEO position.
Garg previously faced backlash for laying off 900 employees on a Zoom call just days before Christmas in 2021
Garg told how Lewis, a hedge fund manager, approached him about six months ago with ideas about how the company could save money and become more profitable.
‘[Lewis’] thoughts about cost-saving were good,’ Garg said. ‘His ideas about innovation were not.’
He then bemoaned that the company was close to a turnaround when Lewis came in and claimed he could have done better.
Lewis was first brought to the board on July 27.
Just one week later, Lewis had convinced the other directors to oust Garg as CEO and name himself as Garg’s replacement.
‘It’s not about me,’ the now-fired CEO claimed. ‘I care about delivering savings to people and helping them live the American Dream. So when shareholders said, “You need to take a back seat,” I complied.’
But Garg said he now feels Lewis ‘hoodwinked’ him into becoming the company’s new CEO, after spending months serving as an advisor to the company and convincing Garg to give him a seat on the board.
‘I suspect he always wanted to become CEO,’ Garg said, arguing: ‘The board made a mistake.’
Since Lewis has taken over, Better Home & Finance stocks plummeted 45 percent – though they had already been down more than 16 percent this year even before Garg’s departure was announced.
Garg has claimed he now has enough votes to force the board to reinstate him as CEO
Still, Garg continues to sit on the board – and has claimed that a number of investors have reached out to him urging him to get his job back.
He said he now has enough votes to force a special hearing, and has retained attorney Alex Spiro to represent him in his quest to retake power.
Spiro then sent the board a letter last week demanding it reinstate Garg as CEO, saying he will work for just $1 a year until the company is profitable – and he will transition out of the CEO role afterward.
Garg also demanded in the letter that all directors other than him, Michael Farello and Hugh Frater resign as he proposed working with a newly-constituted board.
‘It’s an acknowledgement that I’ve been doing this for 10 years, but execution hasn’t been perfect,’ Garg said of his efforts to once again become the chief executive.
However, Better Home & Finance has since publicly demanded that Garg abandon the efforts, MPAMAG reports.
It noted that he was removed by a unanimous board vote taken without his participation and has since launched a ‘costly and distracting campaign’ to reverse the decision.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Better Home & Finance and Alex Spiro for comment.
