Vishal Garg (16%) Activant Capital Group (10.1%) SoftBank Vision Fund (9.1%) Riaz Valani (8.7%) Pine Brook Capital (8.2%) Michael Farello (3.8%) Novator Partners (2.5%) Nicholas Calamari (1.6%)
In February 2014,
Vishal Garg founded the company after he and his wife had a negative experience obtaining a mortgage to buy their first home.[7]
In 2016, the company launched Better Mortgage and was approved to be a
Fannie Mae seller/servicer.[8]
In April 2019, the company partnered with
Ally Financial to operate its mortgage platform.[9] The number of people from traditionally
underrepresented groups buying homes through Better's mortgage lending platform increased significantly in 2019, a development that The New York Times suggested was linked to the company's digital processes and minimal reliance on human brokers.[6][10]
In July 2021, Better acquired Trussle, a UK digital mortgage broker, for $9 million.[11] In September 2021, Better acquired Property Partner, a London-based
crowdfunding platform.[12]
In February 2023, the company announced a deal with
Amazon whereby Amazon employees are able to pledge their stock as
collateral for a loan to cover the
down payment on a house purchase, albeit at a slightly higher interest rate.[14] In August 2023, the company became a
public company via a merger with a
special-purpose acquisition company that included an investment from
SoftBank Vision Fund; shares plummeted immediately after the SPAC merger.[15][16][17] The company was valued at $7.7 billion.[18]
Layoffs and controversy
In December 2021, Garg laid off 900 employees by
videoconference and locked their electronic devices from accessing company material.[19][20][21][22][18] Garg also made comments to employees that were deemed "unruly", telling employees that he "hired the wrong people" and referring to employees as "slow," "dumb," and "embarrassing".[23] After much criticism, Garg took approximately a month off, returning in January 2022.[24][25][26]
On March 8, 2022, the company announced that an additional 3,000 people, or approximately one-third of employees, were laid off.[8][27][28] Some employees learned of their layoff when they received severance pay, before Better.com told them they were to be laid off.[29]
The company instituted another round of layoffs in April 2023; in this round, affected employees received individual calls, a
severance package that included a minimum of 60 days compensation, up to three months of health coverage through
COBRA, and assistance in their job searches.[30]
In June 2022, Sarah Pierce, a former senior executive at Better, filed a lawsuit alleging that the company misled investors in its financial filings. The company said that the suit was without merit but it prompted an investigation by the US SEC.[31] The case is in
discovery until March 2024.[32][33][34]
Also in June 2022, the company also closed its real estate brokerage unit, laying off all staff.[35][36] The company had 150 agents as of 2021 and received 20% of agents' commissions in exchange for
lead generation.[37]
That month, three senior executives left the company.[38]
In August 2022, a list of 250 or more US-based employees who were about to be terminated in another round of layoffs was leaked internally, leading to the termination of the employees who leaked the information.[39]
In 2023, Garg laid off more employees and had more job cuts resulting in shutting down the real estate team and the unit. As per midea reports, the company laid off a total of 4000 employees since December 2021.[40]
Awards and recognition
The company has received the following awards and recognition:[15]
Ranked 1st on the Top Startups List for 2021 and 2020 by
LinkedIn[41]
Ranked 1st on the list of Best Small and Medium Workplaces in New York by Fortune
Ranked 15th on the Disruptor 50 2020 list by
CNBC[42]