Overview
- The board, excluding Vishal Garg, voted unanimously to terminate his role as CEO on August 3, and named newly appointed director Daniel Lewis as interim chief executive.
- Garg says he was blindsided, remains a board member, has retained lawyer Alex Spiro and has formally demanded reinstatement while offering to work for $1 a year until the company returns to profit.
- Garg alleges Lewis, who joined the board days earlier, used praise and advice to win trust and then pushed to replace him; Lewis’s rapid elevation has drawn investor scrutiny.
- Better’s business swung from a pandemic peak to a steep decline in sales and value, with reporting showing sales fell from about $1.5 billion in 2021 to $70 million in 2023 and valuation collapsing from roughly $8 billion to near $300 million, even as Garg says AI-driven changes have tripled loan volume and could push revenue toward $200 million this year.
- The dispute risks a shareholder or legal fight that could delay regulatory filings, unsettle investors and shape whether the company sells assets, pursues buybacks or presses its turnaround plan, and it revives reputational harm from Garg’s widely criticized 2021 mass layoff.