Better.com CEO—Who Fired 900 Workers On Zoom Call—Taking Leave ‘Effective Immediately’

[dasari4kntr]

 

A week after firing 900 employees during a Zoom call, Vishal Garg, the CEO of Better.com, is taking leave “effectively immediately,” according to an internal memo sent to employees Friday.

In the note sent to employees seen by Forbes, Paula Tuffin, the fintech company’s general counsel, described the events of the past week as “very regrettable” and said the board has commissioned a third-party to conduct an assessment of leadership and culture at the company. Tuffin wrote that Garg will be replaced by the company’s CFO, Kevin Ryan, as interim CEO. 

 

“We have much work to do and we hope that everyone can refocus on our customer and support each other to continue to build a great company and a company we can all be proud of,” Tuffin wrote. The memo was first reported by Vice.

Better did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The fallout at the online mortgage lender has been swift since Garg laid off 9% of his company’s workforce during a single Zoom call, after which he castigated the departed workers as “lazy” on the social media platform Blind. Despite apologizing for “blundering” the layoffs, other examples of Garg’s poor treatment of workers — and even investors — have since emerged. Vice reported Wednesday that Garg referred to an investor as “sewage” and that he vehemently objected to giving Better employees a day off for an Indigenous holiday.

The recent revelations follow Forbes reporting in November 2020 that documented Garg’s long history of poor treatment of employees — including calling workers “dumb dolphins” in an email. Forbes also documented Garg’s extensive legal entanglements, which accuse him and companies he controls of fraud and misleading investors. (A Better.com spokesperson responded at the time that “Lawsuits are an unfortunate fact of life for successful startups and their CEOs.”)

Despite his track record, Garg had, until recently, been able to point to the success of Better. Backed by SoftBank, and thanks to the company’s home loan product that had driven revenue on the back of a Covid-driven housing boom, the company was on track to enter the public markets via SPAC at a $7 billion valuation before the end of 2021. However, this week Bloomberg reported that the SPAC listing has now been delayed.

[Spartan]

Media made him villain..papam.

he acted on behalf of board members.

[sri_india]

1 minute ago, Spartan said:

Media made him villain..papam.

he acted on behalf of board members.

Yeah... Mamulu torcher kadhu veedini.... But still , he didn't execute the decision properly

[Spartan]

Just now, sri_india said:

Yeah... Mamulu torcher kadhu veedini.... But still , he didn't execute the decision properly

yes., execution was wrong.

[Raven_Raeyes]

My sympathies with 900 people who lost their jobs but...HR pilichi "Thanks and Goodluck for your future endeavors" ani sepithe matram what would have changed ?

Better mortgage itself is built on online model...so anni ONLINE lo ne cheyadam vruthi dharmam...it may sound bit harsh but this is unnessasary criticism.

Udyogam poinanduku badha ledu kani udyogam udindi ani cheppe tarikha baledu anduke hurt ayina anatu vundi...

[Telugodura456]

bascially he took a thankless job to take upon himself such a responsiblity. And then he lacks the basic tact on how to execute such a thing. He basically looks tactless - blind app lo employees ni thega thittadanta - dumb dolphins ani, lazy people ani.

[Spartan]

1 minute ago, Telugodura456 said:

bascially he took a thankless job to take upon himself such a responsiblity. And then he lacks the basic tact on how to execute such a thing. He basically looks tactless - blind app lo employees ni thega thittadanta - dumb dolphins ani, lazy people ani.

Anna vadu a company founder anna....

[Telugodura456]

1 minute ago, Spartan said:

Anna vadu a company founder anna....

Adhe passionate ga poyi "i will own this decision" antu egurukunta aa zoom call pettadu. Kastha tactful ga Hr ki icchesi chethulu dulupukune tact ledhu.

[Telugodura456]

3 minutes ago, Spartan said:

Anna vadu a company founder anna....

Also company public bro. The real owners are different. founder kabatti losses icchina tolerate chestham ani anaru ga.

[Spartan]

14 minutes ago, Spartan said:

Media made him villain..papam.

he acted on behalf of board members.

 

Just now, Telugodura456 said:

Also company public bro. The real owners are different. founder kabatti losses icchina tolerate chestham ani anaru ga.

 

[Telugodura456]

2 minutes ago, Spartan said:

 

 

There is no doubt board members wanted employees to be fired. But this guy also wanted to fire them - passionately. While board members are quietly in the background this guy made a mess of the execution. Now he needs to go otherwise it hits the company reputation and its value.

And if board played him he was dumb enough to be played.

[anna_gari_maata]

21 minutes ago, sri_india said:

Yeah... Mamulu torcher kadhu veedini.... But still , he didn't execute the decision properly

He termed employees as lazy.. but what he did qas lazy a-f

[Katti_Ramdas]

Ela cheste bagundedo mari.. mass layoffs news ki eyana chesina daniki diff enti..in mail cheppetidi on call cheppadu

[Telugodura456]

Just now, Katti_Ramdas said:

Ela cheste bagundedo mari.. mass layoffs news ki eyana chesina daniki diff enti..in mail cheppetidi on call cheppadu

blind lo employees ni lazy ani, mass emails lo thittadam kooda chesthara

[anna_gari_maata]

3 minutes ago, Katti_Ramdas said:

Ela cheste bagundedo mari.. mass layoffs news ki eyana chesina daniki diff enti..in mail cheppetidi on call cheppadu

Dorikina vadu donga.. dorikadu, donga antunnaru