CEO who fired 900 on Zoom days before Christmas rages after getting taste of his own medicine

A CEO who infamously laid off 900 people in a Zoom call just days before Christmas has now himself been removed from his top executive position.

Vishal Garg, the founder and former chief of mortgage lender Better Home & Finance, told CNN he had been ousted from his position on August 3 when the board voted to name Daniel Lewis as its new CEO instead.

The move had followed a series of controversies at the company, which began with Garg's heartless message to employees in December 2021.

'This isn't news that you're going to want to hear. 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,' he said in the blunt Zoom call.

Garg later apologized for failing 'to show the appropriate amount of respect and appreciation for the individuals who were affected.'

Yet the company's downturn only continued as it faced a whistleblower lawsuit that was later dropped and a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation – which found no wrongdoing.

By 2023, the company's stock cratered 93 percent as its annual sales plummeted from $1.5 billion in 2021 to just $70 million that year.

Its market value now stands at just $300 million – down from an $8 billion valuation during the pandemic-fueled refinancing boom when mortgage rates hit historic lows. 

But Garg insists he was about to turn the mortgage company around when he was unceremoniously replaced.

This year, he said, the company is on pace to deliver $200 million in sales.

He attributed that success to the company's decision to train AI models to quickly process mortgages and the company's new partnership with Neo Home Loans, which Garg said doubled productivity and slashed loan origination costs in half.

Major firms like Intuit, Coinbase and OpenAI have also partnered with Better this year to power their own mortgage services, while Better Home & Finance also developed a strong home equity line of credit business.

'We're winning,' Garg insisted. 'We've tripled loan volume. We're close to profitability.

'We were at the five-yard line after taking the ball all the way down the field from the other side.'

He then went on to acknowledge that the infamous Zoom layoffs severely damaged the company's reputation.

But he claimed Lewis convinced the board that he didn't push employees hard enough as he usurped the CEO position.

Garg told how Lewis, a hedge fund manager, approached him about six months ago with ideas about how the company could save money and become more profitable. 

'[Lewis'] thoughts about cost-saving were good,' Garg said. 'His ideas about innovation were not.'

He then bemoaned that the company was close to a turnaround when Lewis came in and claimed he could have done better.

Lewis was first brought to the board on July 27. 

Just one week later, Lewis had convinced the other directors to oust Garg as CEO and name himself as Garg's replacement.

'It's not about me,' the now-fired CEO claimed. 'I care about delivering savings to people and helping them live the American Dream. So when shareholders said, "You need to take a back seat," I complied.'

But Garg said he now feels Lewis 'hoodwinked' him into becoming the company's new CEO, after spending months serving as an advisor to the company and convincing Garg to give him a seat on the board.

'I suspect he always wanted to become CEO,' Garg said, arguing: 'The board made a mistake.' 

Since Lewis has taken over, Better Home & Finance stocks plummeted 45 percent – though they had already been down more than 16 percent this year even before Garg's departure was announced.

Still, Garg continues to sit on the board – and has claimed that a number of investors have reached out to him urging him to get his job back. 

He said he now has enough votes to force a special hearing, and has retained attorney Alex Spiro to represent him in his quest to retake power.

Spiro then sent the board a letter last week demanding it reinstate Garg as CEO, saying he will work for just $1 a year until the company is profitable – and he will transition out of the CEO role afterward.

Garg also demanded in the letter that all directors other than him, Michael Farello and Hugh Frater resign as he proposed working with a newly-constituted board.

'It's an acknowledgement that I've been doing this for 10 years, but execution hasn't been perfect,' Garg said of his efforts to once again become the chief executive.

However, Better Home & Finance has since publicly demanded that Garg abandon the efforts, MPAMAG reports.

It noted that he was removed by a unanimous board vote taken without his participation and has since launched a 'costly and distracting campaign' to reverse the decision. 

In a statement to the Daily Mail, Spiro said Garg's 'primary focus has always been about making homeownership more accessible to Americans.'

He then noted that the stock price has plummeted by 45 percent and urged the board to 'select the best long-term CEO for Better so Vishal may move into a role where he can continue driving the American dream for more Americans while having new leadership to lead the company towards its full potential.'

The Daily Mail has also reached out to Better Home & Finance for comment.