Vishal Garg (businessman)

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Vishal Garg
Vishal Garg 2021.jpg
Born1978 (age 46–47)
NationalityIndian-American
OccupationBusinessman
Known forCEO of Better.com
Co-founder of MyRichUncle
SpouseSarita James
Website www.vishal-garg.com

Vishal Garg (born 1978) [1] is an Indian-American businessman who is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of mortgage lending company Better.com. Previously, he co-founded MyRichUncle, focused on student loans.

Contents

Early life and education

Born in India, Garg moved to the Queens borough of New York City when he was seven, and grew up in Forest Hills. [2] While attending Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, he resold books, CliffsNotes study guides, and thrift store clothes at a profit. Beginning in 1995 he studied finance and international business in the Stern School of Business at New York University [3] while working as a runner and entry clerk for Salomon Brothers [2] and as a trader for VZB Partners, a hedge fund. [3] After graduation, he worked in the Investment Banking Department at Morgan Stanley as an analyst. [3]

Career

Garg co-founded a student finance company in 2000 that became the online student loan provider MyRichUncle, which grew to employ 300 people and became the second largest private student lender in the United States. [4] The company became a public company in 2005 but filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7, Title 11, United States Code during the 2008 financial crisis. [5]

In 2009, Garg co-founded special servicing company EIFC. Beginning in August 2009, Garg jointly led a new asset-backed securities team at Aram Global, an asset recovery firm. [6]

In 2013, Garg co-founded Future Finance, a provider of student loans to students in the UK, with Brian Norton. [7]

In 2014, he founded Climb Credit, targeted at US programs with relatively lower costs and higher graduate employment rates, with Zander Rafael and Amit Sinha. [8]

Also in 2014, after a frustrating experience trying to obtain a mortgage, Garg founded Better.com, an online mortgage broker. [9] [10] Garg acquired Avex Funding of California to provide the new company with licenses and an operating platform to originate mortgages online. [10] The company became a public company via a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company in 2023. [11]

Controversies

Garg's treatment of employees has attracted negative publicity. In November 2020, he was quoted in an e-mail in which he chided some of them as "a bunch of DUMB DOLPHINS". [12] In December 2021, a video was widely disseminated of him abruptly firing 900 people in the United States and India through a videotelephony call conducted on December 2nd, 2021. [13] [12] [14] [15] [16] Following public outrage, Garg apologized and wrote in a letter to employees that he had "failed to show the appropriate amount of respect and appreciation for the individuals who were affected". [17] [18] He remained CEO and in January 2022 the company conducted a review of its internal culture. [19] A video subsequently emerged of Garg blaming himself for "overhir[ing]", [20] and a second round of layoffs took place in March 2022 after Garg's return, with the company later also offering 60-day severance packages to employees who voluntarily resigned. [21]

Personal life

Garg lives in Manhattan with his wife, Sarita James, [22] and three children. [23]

Garg has made donations to political candidates and organizations including the Serve America PAC supporting veterans and several members of the Democratic Party. [24]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Helping Stuyvesant Restart During the Pandemic". Stuy Alumni. Stuyvesant High School.
  2. 1 2 Shifman, Gerald (April 30, 2020). "How the pandemic is speeding up the digitization of the mortgage industry". Crain Communications .
  3. 1 2 3 "Vishal Garg". American Banker .
  4. ↑ Cremades, Alejandro (June 20, 2019). "At 26 Years Old He Brought His First Company Public And Now Built A $550 Million Business". Forbes .
  5. ↑ Cremades, Alejandro (June 20, 2019). "At 26 Years Old He Brought His First Company Public And Now Built A $550 Million Business". Forbes .
  6. ↑ Thetgyi, Olivia (November 2, 2009). "New Advisory Launches ABS Group". GlobalCapital.
  7. ↑ Keane, Jonathan (September 22, 2018). "Future Finance's new chief wants to take the Dublin company beyond student loans". Fora.
  8. ↑ Shieber, Jonathan (April 13, 2016). "Climb Credit looks to transform student lending with a new business model based on graduate success". TechCrunch .
  9. ↑ Rudegeair, Peter (February 9, 2017). "Lender Better Mortgage Gets New Kleiner Perkins Funding Valuing Firm at $220 Million". The Wall Street Journal .
  10. 1 2 Rudegeair, Peter (June 12, 2016). "Online Lender's Secret to Success: Past Failure" . The Wall Street Journal .
  11. ↑ Mishkin, Shaina (August 24, 2023). "Better Just Went Public at a Bad Time for Mortgage Lenders. The Stock Was Down 93%". Barron's .
  12. 1 2 Timmins, Beth (December 7, 2021). "Vishal Garg: US boss fires 900 employees over Zoom". BBC News .
  13. ↑ Graziosi, Graig (December 6, 2021). "Who is Vishal Garg, the CEO that fired 900 employees over Zoom call?". The Independent.
  14. ↑ Mathews, Jessica (December 6, 2021). "Better.com's morale and SPAC merger success in question after CEO's unruly comments". Fortune.
  15. ↑ Sweeney, Don (December 5, 2021). "Hundreds join company's pre-holiday Zoom call — to be told they've lost their jobs". Sacramento Bee.
  16. ↑ "WATCH: Better.com CEO Vishal Garg fires 15% of its workforce over Zoom call". The Tribune. Chandigarh. December 6, 2021.
  17. ↑ Taylor, Derrick Bryson; Gross, Jenny (December 8, 2021). "The Better.com C.E.O. says he's 'deeply sorry' for firing workers over Zoom" . The New York Times .
  18. ↑ Nishant, Niket; Dasgupta, Shounak (December 9, 2021). "Better.com CEO apologizes after laying off 900 employees via Zoom call". Reuters.
  19. ↑ Goldberg, Emma (January 18, 2022). "Better.com's founder returns as C.E.O. after firing 900 workers on Zoom" . The New York Times .
  20. ↑ Azevedo, Mary Ann; Whittaker, Zack (April 7, 2022). "'We probably pissed away $200 million,' Better.com CEO told employees in layoffs meeting". TechCrunch .
  21. ↑ Azevedo, Mary Ann (April 6, 2022). "After mass layoffs, Better.com offers severance, health insurance to employees who voluntarily resign". TechCrunch .
  22. ↑ "Renaissance Woman: Sarita James '98". Harvard Alumni. March 18, 2015.
  23. ↑ James, Sarita (April 20, 2017). "Take Your Baby to Work". The New York Times .
  24. ↑ "Donor Lookup". OpenSecrets .
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