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Vishal Garg (businessman)

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For the energy researcher, see Vishal Garg.

Vishal Garg
Born1977 (age 46–47)
NationalityIndian-American
Occupationentrepreneur
Known forCEO of Better.com
co-founder of MyRichUncle
SpouseSarita James
Websitewww.vishal-garg.com

Vishal Garg (born 1977 or 1978)[1] is an Indian-American entrepreneur. He is the chief executive officer of mortgage lending company Better.com and previously co-founded the student loan company MyRichUncle.

Early life and education

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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 the academic magnet 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.[4] After graduation, he worked in the Investment Banking Department at Morgan Stanley as an analyst.[4]

Career

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MyRichUncle

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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.[5] The company went public in 2005 on the NASDAQ,[6] and in 2006 Garg was listed in both Fast Company's Fast 50 and Business Week's Young Entrepreneurs of Tech.[7][8]

Entrepreneurial Endeavors

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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.[9] Garg later co-founded two further student loan companies: Future Finance, a provider of student loans to students in the UK, with Brian Norton in 2013,[10] and Climb Credit, targeted at US programs with relatively lower costs and higher graduate employment rates, with Zander Rafael and Amit Sinha in 2014.[11]

Better.com

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In 2014, after a frustrating experience trying to obtain a mortgage, Garg founded Better.com, an online mortgage broker backed by venture capital from Goldman Sachs, Kleiner Perkins, Softbank, Ally Bank, American Express Ventures, and others.[12][13]

At an early stage, he acquired Avex Funding of California to provide the new company with licenses and an operating platform to originate mortgages online in the continuing aftermath of the financial crisis.[13] The company’s online product offering was successful and led to over 800% growth in 2020 from $100 million in revenue to $800 million in annual revenue.[14] In October 2022, the company announced that it surpassed $100 billion in loans funded, the first fintech company to reach that milestone.[15] In 2021, Better raised additional capital at a $7.7 billion valuation.[16] Since its founding, Better has also originated more than $38 billion in insurance, and over $3 billion in real estate transactions.[17]

Better was named Best Online Mortgage Lender for Robust Online Lending by Forbes in 2024,[18] and Best Mortgage Lender for Affordability by the Wall Street Journal in 2023,[19] and ranked #1 on LinkedIn’s Top Startups List for 2021,[20] and 2020[21] #1 on Fortune’s Best Small and Medium Workplaces in New York,[22] #15 on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 2020 list,[23] and was listed on Forbes FinTech 50 for 2020.[24]

In August 2021, The Daily Beast estimated his equity in Better.com to be worth at least $1 billion.[25] However, as of April 2024, Garg’s equity in Better.com was valued at $22 million.[26]

In 2023, Better went public on the NASDAQ under the symbol BETR.[27] However, given the large increase in U.S. interest rates from 2021 to 2023, Better's stock price fell drastically immediately after going public.[28] Still, in Better’s earnings release for 1Q24, the company announced that its revenue and loan volume grew over 25% compared to the previous quarter.[29]

Garg has won numerous awards for his work at Better, including Goldman Sachs Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs in 2018,[30] HousingWire Rising Stars in 2017,[31] and E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year in 2020.[32] In June 2024, he was named one of Inman's 2024 Best of Finance awardees.[33] According to Inman, recipients were selected by the editorial team as being “the real estate community’s best and brightest in the mortgage and finance space, and those pushing the envelope and reshaping homeownership.”[34]

In addition to awards, Better has undertaken charitable community service efforts to make homeownership more accessible for all Americans, including its Better Home Giveaway, which awarded a home to a family who struggled with purchasing a house and who had an impact on their local community.[35] The company also provides qualifying customers access to HOPE Grants, giving families cash for down payments and home purchasing costs.[36]

On stage at the Inman Connect conference in January 2023, Garg announced the world’s first One Day Mortgage.[37] In February 2023, the company partnered with Amazon, and announced Equity Unlocker, a product that allows Amazon employees to use their company shares as collateral when purchasing a home, without having to liquidate their stock.[38]

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".[39] In December 2021, a video was widely disseminated of him abruptly firing 900 people in the United States and India through a videoconferencing call conducted on December 2nd, 2021.[40][39][41][42][43] 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".[44][45] He remained CEO and in January 2022 the company conducted a review of its internal culture.[46] A video subsequently emerged of Garg blaming himself for "overhir[ing]",[47] 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.[48] In June 2022, a former senior executive at Better.com filed a lawsuit alleging that Garg misled investors in its financial filings and other representations while it tried to go public.[49][50] As of April 2024, Better won a judgment against her and her complaint was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice.[51]

Personal life

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Garg lives in Manhattan with his wife, Sarita James,[52] and three children.[53] In 2021, he launched a partnership with the Fund for Public Schools in NYC, donating nearly $2M to purchase Chromebooks, iPads, Wi-Fi hotspots, books, and uniforms for New York City public school students from low-income backgrounds.[54] The project supported over 30,000 students learning online during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, Mr. Garg won the Golden Pegleg award from Stuyvesant High School Alumni Association for his charitable works related to economically disadvantaged children.[55]

Garg has made donations to political candidates and organizations including the Serve America PAC supporting veterans.[56]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Helping Stuyvesant Restart During the Pandemic". Stuy Alumni. Stuyvesant High School.
  2. ^ a b Shifman, Gerald (April 30, 2020). "How the pandemic is speeding up the digitization of the mortgage industry". Crain's New York Business. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  3. ^ "Vishal Garg". American Banker.
  4. ^ a b "Class Notes: Saving On Loans". Stern Business. New York University Stern School of Business. Fall–Winter 2006. p. 44.
  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. ^ Cremades, Alejandro (June 20, 2019). "At 26 Years Old He Brought His First Company Public And Now Built A $550 Million Business". Forbes.
  7. ^ Kamenetz, Anya (December 20, 2006). "16. Raza Khan and Vishal Garg: MyRichUncle". Fast Company. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  8. ^ "Raza Khan and Vishal Garg". Business Week. March 13, 2006. Archived from the original on April 10, 2006.
  9. ^ Thetgyi, Olivia (November 2, 2009). "New Advisory Launches ABS Group". GlobalCapital.
  10. ^ Keane, Jonathan (September 22, 2018). "Future Finance's new chief wants to take the Dublin company beyond student loans". Fora. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  11. ^ Shieber, Jonathan (April 13, 2016). "Climb Credit looks to transform student lending with a new business model based on graduate success". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  12. ^ Rudegeair, Peter (February 9, 2017). "Lender Better Mortgage Gets New Kleiner Perkins Funding Valuing Firm at $220 Million". The Wall Street Journal.
  13. ^ a b Rudegeair, Peter (June 12, 2016). "Online Lender's Secret to Success: Past Failure". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  14. ^ Weinberg, Cory (September 23, 2020). "Better.com Seeks to Ride Refinancing Wave to a $4 Billion Valuation". The Information.
  15. ^ Martinez, Andrew (August 23, 2023). "Better.com leaders on going public: 'We've been through war together'". National Mortgage News.
  16. ^ Tsai, Diana (October 20, 2021). "How Better.Com Quietly Became A $7.7B Unicorn: Personal Insights From Founder Vishal Garg". Forbes.
  17. ^ "Better Home & Finance Holding Company Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results". Better Home & Finance Holding Company Investor Relations.
  18. ^ Campisi, Natalie (May 1, 2024). "Best Online Mortgage Lenders Of May 2024". Forbes.
  19. ^ Yale, Aly (March 24, 2023). "The Best Mortgage Lenders". The Wall Street Journal.
  20. ^ "LinkedIn Top Startups 2021: The 50 U.S. companies on the rise". LinkedIn News. September 22, 2021.
  21. ^ "LinkedIn Top Startups 2020: The 50 U.S. companies on the rise". LinkedIn News. September 22, 2020.
  22. ^ "65 Best Small and Medium Workplaces in New York". Fortune.
  23. ^ "These are the 2020 CNBC Disruptor 50 companies". CNBC. June 16, 2020.
  24. ^ Sharf, Samantha (February 12, 2020). "The Future Of Real Estate: Fintech 50 2020". Forbes.
  25. ^ Kirsch, Noah (August 19, 2021). "He Threatened to Burn His Business Partner Alive. Now He's a Billionaire". The Daily Beast. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  26. ^ "Vishal Garg". MarketScreener. April 29, 2024.
  27. ^ Mishkin, Shaina (August 24, 2023). "Better Just Went Public at a Bad Time for Mortgage Lenders. The Stock Was Down 93%". Barron's.
  28. ^ Volka, Maria (May 14, 2024). "Better's financials remain in the red, but revenue, loan volume grow". National Mortgage News.
  29. ^ Mendoza, Candyd (May 14, 2024). "Better's revenue surges in Q1 2024, but profits remain elusive". Mortgage Professional America.
  30. ^ Lloyd, Alcynna (October 18, 2018). "Goldman Sachs honors Better Mortgage CEO Vishal Garg". HousingWire.
  31. ^ "2017 Rising Stars: Vishal Garg". HousingWire. June 1, 2017.
  32. ^ "EY Announces Winners for the Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 New York Award". EY.com.
  33. ^ "Inman Best of Finance Awards 2024". Inman. June 17, 2024.
  34. ^ "Inman unveils 2024 class of 'Best of Finance' award winners". Inman. June 17, 2024.
  35. ^ Washington, Julie (December 22, 2023). "Family wins $500,000 to buy Solon home in Better Home giveaway". Cleveland.com.
  36. ^ "The Better Home Giveaway". Better.com.
  37. ^ Carter, Matt (January 25, 2023). "Vishal Garg is back, with plan to save Better: The 'One Day Mortgage'". Inman.
  38. ^ Mattioli, Dana (February 28, 2023). "Amazon Employees Will Be Able to Use Stock as Collateral for Home Loans". The Wall Street Journal.
  39. ^ a b Timmins, Beth (December 7, 2021). "Vishal Garg: US boss fires 900 employees over Zoom". BBC News business. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  40. ^ Graziosi, Graig (December 6, 2021). "Who is Vishal Garg, the CEO that fired 900 employees over Zoom call?". The Independent.
  41. ^ Mathews, Jessica (December 6, 2021). "Better.com's morale and SPAC merger success in question after CEO's unruly comments". Fortune. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  42. ^ Sweeney, Don (December 5, 2021). "Hundreds join company's pre-holiday Zoom call — to be told they've lost their jobs". Sacramento Bee.
  43. ^ "WATCH: Better.com CEO Vishal Garg fires 15% of its workforce over Zoom call". The Tribune. Chandigarh. December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  44. ^ 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. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  45. ^ Nishant, Niket; Dasgupta, Shounak (December 9, 2021). "Better.com CEO apologizes after laying off 900 employees via Zoom call". Reuters. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  46. ^ Goldberg, Emma (January 18, 2022). "Better.com's founder returns as C.E.O. after firing 900 workers on Zoom". The New York Times. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  47. ^ Azevedo, Mary Ann; Whittaker, Zack (April 7, 2022). "'We probably pissed away $200 million,' Better.com CEO told employees in layoffs meeting". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  48. ^ Azevedo, Mary Ann (April 6, 2022). "After mass layoffs, Better.com offers severance, health insurance to employees who voluntarily resign". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  49. ^ Foldy, Ben (June 7, 2022). "Better.com Misled Investors Ahead of Stalled SPAC Deal, Former Executive Alleges". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  50. ^ Goldman, David (June 8, 2022). "The CEO who fired 900 people over Zoom is accused of misleading investors". CNN. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  51. ^ Nunes, Flavia (May 8, 2024). "Former top executive withdraws lawsuit against Better.com and its founder". HousingWire.
  52. ^ "Renaissance Woman: Sarita James '98". Harvard Alumni. March 18, 2015.
  53. ^ James, Sarita (April 20, 2017). "Take Your Baby to Work". New York Times.
  54. ^ "Helping Stuyvesant Restart During the Pandemic". Stuyvesant.
  55. ^ "2022 BENEFIT FOR STUYVESANT - OUTSTANDING PEGLEG IN SUPPORT OF NYC PUBLIC SCHOOLS". Stuyvesant.
  56. ^ NW, charitable organization 1300 L. St; Washington, Suite 200. "Donor Lookup". OpenSecrets. Retrieved July 18, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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