Vishal Garg built Better Home & Finance from a pandemic-era refinancing boom into an $8 billion company, then became infamous for firing 900 employees on a single Zoom call in December 2021. On August 3, 2026, the board ousted him as CEO, replacing him with new director Daniel Lewis. Now Garg wants his job back, offering to work for just $1 a year until the company turns a profit.
The Board Member Who Turned on Him
Daniel Lewis, a hedge fund manager with a mixed track record, joined Better’s board on July 27, 2026, after spending six months advising Garg on cost savings. Within a week, Lewis had convinced fellow directors to remove Garg and install himself as CEO. Garg called the move a betrayal, saying Lewis praised the company publicly and used that goodwill to win a board seat and the board’s trust.
Garg Hires a Lawyer and Fights Back
Since stepping aside, Garg has remained on Better’s board and says investors have pleaded with him to reclaim the CEO role. He holds Class B shares with special voting power, both his own and those of committed early investors, which he believes give him enough votes to win. Garg retained attorney Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel and sent the board a letter Monday demanding his reinstatement as CEO.
The Zoom Call That Made Him Infamous
Garg’s reputation was forged in December 2021, when he told more than 900 Better.com employees on a company Zoom webinar, “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.” CFO Kevin Ryan later called the layoffs “gut-wrenching,” but said they positioned Better to compete in a shifting mortgage market.
Accusations of Stealing and a Tearful Admission
Fortune reported Garg accused the laid-off workers of “stealing” from colleagues and customers by being unproductive, claiming some worked only two hours a day. Among those cut was Better’s diversity, equity and inclusion recruiting team. On the call, Garg admitted, “This is the second time in my career I’m doing this and I do not want to do this. The last time I did it, I cried.”
A Pattern of Controversy Predates the Layoffs
The Zoom firing was not Garg’s first brush with controversy. Forbes obtained an email in which he berated staff, writing, “You are TOO DAMN SLOW. You are a bunch of DUMB DOLPHINS.” The Daily Beast also reported that one of Garg’s “loyal lieutenants” received millions in stock options that vested immediately, far beyond typical employee packages, before that person was placed on administrative leave for bullying.
From an $8 Billion Peak to Near Collapse
Better.com’s valuation hit $8 billion during the pandemic refinancing boom, when mortgage rates sat below 3 percent. As rates climbed toward 7 percent, the refinancing business collapsed, and annual sales fell from $1.5 billion in 2021 to just $70 million in 2023. Garg also endured a leave of absence, a dropped whistleblower lawsuit, an SEC probe that found nothing, and a 2023 SPAC merger that sent shares down 93 percent.
The AI Turnaround Garg Says Was Working
Better rebuilt around AI models that process mortgages in hours, work that once took dozens of people several days. A partnership with Neo Home Loans doubled productivity and cut loan origination costs by half, Garg said, while Intuit, Coinbase and OpenAI signed on to power their mortgage services this year. Sales rebounded to a projected $200 million. “We’re winning,” Garg told CNN. “We were at the 5-yard line.”
Better’s Stock Has Fallen 45 Percent
Investors have responded coolly to the leadership change. Better’s stock has fallen 45 percent since Lewis became CEO, after already dropping more than 16 percent earlier in the year. A day after replacing Garg, Lewis posted on X, “There was never a $BETR without @vishal_better. That demands respect.” The market reaction suggests investors, at least for now, are siding with the ousted founder over his replacement.
Garg’s Case for a Second Chance
Garg admits his execution “hasn’t been perfect” over a decade running Better, and that the Zoom layoffs will keep haunting him. Still, he suspects Lewis “always wanted to become CEO” and calls the board’s decision a mistake. He says he’ll work for $1 a year if reinstated, stepping aside once the turnaround is complete. “I hope it gets resolved,” he told CNN. “The future still remains very bright for Better.”
