Better founder who fired 900 employees over Zoom is now fighting to get his own job back

Vishal Garg, founder of Better Home & Finance, is attempting to regain his role as CEO of the company after being fired in a controversial 2021 Zoom meeting. At the time, Better was experiencing turmoil, with the mass layoff being seen as a symbol of the company's struggles. Garg claims the board removed him at a crucial moment when the company's automation tools were beginning to boost loan volume and improve profitability.

The new CEO, Daniel Lewis, a hedge fund manager who joined the board on July 27, reportedly persuaded the directors to replace Garg a week after Lewis joined the board. Garg alleges that Lewis, who had been advising Garg for about six months, "hoodwinked" him into believing he supported Better's strategy. Lewis responded to a tweet questioning his leadership by stating, "There was never a $BETR without @vishal_better.

That demands respect." Since Lewis took over, Better has faced a decline in sales from $1.5 billion in 2021 to $70 million in 2023 due to rising mortgage rates and weakened refinancing demand. Despite this, Garg maintains that Better's technology strategy is progressing, with AI-driven mortgage processing reducing loan origination costs by 50%.

He also highlights partnerships with Intuit, Coinbase, and OpenAI, and a growing home equity line of credit business. Garg believes the board's decision to remove him was a mistake, as Better's loan volume has tripled and the company is now on track to generate $200 million in sales this year. He has hired legal counsel and sent a letter to the board seeking his reinstatement, offering to work for $1 a year until Better becomes profitable.