Better.com founder Vishal Garg claims shareholder victory to oust CEO, board less than 2 months after firing | Latest Tech News
Better.com founder Vishal Garg says he has finally secured enough shareholder votes to oust the board members who pushed him out — doubtlessly handing him control of the embattled mortgage lender less than two months after his gorgeous defenestration.
Garg’s investor group announced Wednesday that shareholders representing more than 51% of Better’s voting energy have signed written consents to take away interim CEO Daniel Lewis and 4 other administrators.
If Better formally accepts the votes as legitimate, Garg’s group would have enough shareholder help to reshape the board — successfully turning the tables on the administrators who fired him as CEO on Aug. 3.
Better.com founder Vishal Garg says his investor group has secured enough shareholder help to oust 5 administrators less than two months after the board fired him as CEO. Bloomberg via Getty Images
But Garg, who first generated headlines 5 years in the past when he let go around 900 of his staff over a Zoom call, in doesn’t plan to reclaim his outdated job.
Instead, his group said it plans to set up an exterior interim CEO with mortgage-industry experience while Garg turns into Better’s head of product, platform and innovation.
(*2*) Garg said in asserting the vote.
The vote “serves the best interests of every Better shareholder,” said Garg attorney Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel.
“No public CEO has ever been pushed out, litigated the issue, and won his way back in two months. Vishal Garg has been vindicated,” he added.
Better.com interim CEO Daniel Lewis is among 5 administrators Garg’s shareholder group is searching for to take away from the company’s board. Better.com
Better is a New York-based, publicly traded digital mortgage lender the market worth of which has plunged to roughly $200 million to $230 million from a $7.7 billion valuation when its SPAC deal was announced in 2021.
A source with data of the scenario described Garg’s comeback as an extraordinary reversal after he was “completely thrown out.”
“He fought his way back and recaptured control of the company,” the individual said.
The source added that Garg spent weeks profitable over wavering shareholders, likening the battle for their help to a political marketing campaign.
“These people, one by one, open that f–king envelope, check his name, and said, ‘I’m with these guys.’ One by one,” the source said.
The source claimed Better’s board was shocked when Garg’s group crossed the bulk threshold, saying: “Their jaws hit the floor. They cannot believe this got just got pulled off on them.”
The latest development would mark a dramatic reversal in a bitter boardroom struggle that erupted after Garg nominated Lewis — an investor who had change into a close confidant — to Better’s board on July 27.
Just one week later, the board fired Garg after roughly 11 years as CEO and put in Lewis as interim chief.
The breakup was notably putting because Lewis had spent months showering Garg with reward in non-public textual content messages.
“I actually love you,” Lewis wrote Garg in March.
The battle for control of Better.com erupted after its board ousted Garg in August and put in Lewis as interim CEO. Better.com
Lewis also called Garg “by far the most compelling CEO in my public portfolio” and told him: “I find you at a level that is in the 0.01%. I know what I see.”
Even hours after Garg’s ouster, Lewis wrote him shortly a bit midnight on Aug. 4: “You are the last person I am texting tonight — you are on my mind. You are in my heart, whether you believe it or not.”
Less than two minutes later, Lewis wrote in all caps: “REMOVING VISHAL GARG IS NOT WINNING. HE IS OUR FOUNDER.”
Lewis beforehand told The Post that he had been an exterior shareholder making an attempt to “coach” Garg when he despatched the effusive messages.
He said his view modified after getting an inside look at Better and discovering what he described as “corporate waste,” “related-party dealings” and “toxicity and dysfunction.”
“All the love died when the diligence began,” Lewis said.
Better initially portrayed Garg’s departure as an amicable transition, saying on Aug. 3 that he had stepped down and that the 2 sides had “mutually agreed” it was time for new management.
The company later said every director other than Garg had voted to fire him over considerations about his “judgment, temperament and credibility.”
Garg, who drew widespread criticism after firing roughly 900 Better.com staff over a Zoom call in 2021, is now searching for to overhaul the company’s board. Better.com
Garg responded by launching a shareholder riot aimed at eradicating Lewis and administrators Harit Talwar, Bhaskar Menon, Arnaud Massenet and Prabhu Narsimhan.
That marketing campaign shortly turned messy.
Garg initially claimed shareholders backing him represented a majority of Better’s voting energy, but his attorneys later acknowledged that the unique bloc managed only a little more than 45%.
Garg said the error resulted from a voting-power schedule ready by Better’s own in-house securities counsel that included convertible choices that couldn’t truly be voted.
Better subsequently sued Garg in Manhattan federal court, accusing him of federal securities-law violations tied to the shareholder marketing campaign, including allegedly deceptive statements about his help and improper coordination with other buyers.
Garg denied wrongdoing and accused Better of taking part in “gotcha,” arguing that some administrators had themselves requested him to display shareholder opposition to the new management.
The Post has sought remark from Better.
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