Only a week after firing 900 workers via a Zoom conference call, Vishal Garg has decided that he’ll be “taking time off effective immediately” from his role as company CEO of digital mortgage platform, Better.com.
In an email sent to employees, reviewed by Vice, the Better.com board stated that company CFO Kevin Ryan will be in charge of the everyday decisions of the firm and that an independent third party company was appointed to “do a leadership and cultural assessment.”
Garg had created an uproar after a video surfaced of him telling hundreds of company workers over Zoom that “if you’re on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off.”
To add even more insult to injury, just a few days after Garg fired hundreds of employees, there were posted messages on anonymous professional network Blind which stated that many of the affected workers had been “stealing” by “working an average of 2 hours a day while clocking 8 hours+ a day.”
Vice reported that three senior workers had resigned after this incident and that Garg had issued an apology for not being able to “show the appropriate amount of respect and appreciation for individuals who are affected and for their contributions to Better.”
Since that infamous Zoom call, other key details have also surfaced, regarding Garg’s erratic or volatile behavior, with company workers saying he allegedly used inappropriate language and tried to create a culture of fear.
However, Garg called Howard Newman of the investment company Pine Brook Partners “sewage” and an “ingrate and a thug and a miserable miser.” This, after Newman questioned Better.com’s decision to go public through a SPAC instead of a more conventional route.
Garg had reportedly made the comments via an email sent to Newman, while copying in several other Better.com investors, Vice has reported.
Founded in 2016, Better is a digital-first homeownership firm whose services included mortgage, real estate, title, and homeowners insurance.
From its founding in 2016 through mid-2021, Better has reportedly funded more than $45 billion in home loans and offered more than $25 billion in cumulative coverage via Better Cover and Better Settlement Services, the insurance divisions of Better.
Better has raised more than $400M in equity capital since its inception.