Vishal Garg Claims Shareholder Victory to Oust Better.com Board

Better.com founder Vishal Garg announced Wednesday that his investor group has secured enough shareholder votes to oust the board members who dismissed him as CEO. If the votes are validated by Better, Garg’s group would gain the majority shareholder support needed to reshape the company’s board, effectively reversing his termination on August 3.

Garg, who was fired after approximately 11 years as CEO, does not intend to reclaim his former position. Instead, his group plans to appoint an external interim CEO with experience in the mortgage industry, while Garg would assume the role of head of product, platform, and innovation. "This is a resounding victory for Better’s shareholders, customers and employees, who all participated in organizing the resistance to the coup led by Daniel Lewis and the incumbent board," Garg stated in the announcement.

Alex Spiro, Garg's attorney, echoed this sentiment, saying, "No public CEO has ever been pushed out, litigated the issue, and won his way back in two months. Vishal Garg has been vindicated."

The battle for control of Better.com began shortly after Garg nominated Daniel Lewis, an investor and confidant, to the company’s board on July 27. Just a week later, the board terminated Garg and installed Lewis as interim chief executive. This shift followed private text messages where Lewis had expressed admiration for Garg, calling him "by far the most compelling CEO in my public portfolio" and stating, "I find you at a level that is in the 0.01%."

Lewis, however, stated that his perspective changed after gaining an inside view of Better, citing "corporate waste," "related-party dealings," and "toxicity and dysfunction."

Initially, Better characterized Garg’s departure as a mutual agreement for new leadership. However, the company later stated that all directors, except Garg, had voted to terminate him due to concerns about his "judgment, temperament and credibility."

Garg responded by initiating a shareholder campaign to remove Lewis and directors Harit Talwar, Bhaskar Menon, Arnaud Massenet, and Prabhu Narsimhan. The campaign faced initial challenges when Garg’s team acknowledged that their original bloc controlled slightly over 45% of the voting power, rather than a majority, due to an error in Better's voting-power schedule. This led to Better suing Garg in Manhattan federal court, alleging federal securities-law violations related to the shareholder campaign, including misleading statements and improper coordination with other investors. Garg denied the accusations, accusing Better of a "gotcha" tactic and asserting that some directors had encouraged him to demonstrate shareholder opposition to the new leadership. Better has been approached for comment.

Better, a New York-based digital mortgage lender, has seen its market value decline significantly from a $7.7 billion valuation in 2021 to approximately $200 million to $230 million.