Better pushes back on Garg’s bid to regain control, citing losses and board concerns

The letter and announcement come just 11 days after Better announced that board member Daniel Lewis would succeed Garg as interim CEO. Garg told HousingWire at the time that he remained “Better’s founder, a board director, its single largest voting shareholder.”

Garg previously aimed for profitability by late 2026. But Better’s Q2 2026 earnings including an adjusted EBITDA loss of $14 million and came after 11 consecutive quarters of losses.

Garg seeks return to executive role

The pushback follows Garg’s announcement Thursday evening that he is seeking to return to an executive role and had retained the services of attorney Alex Spiro. In a letter to the board, Garg called for five directors to resign, which Better said would effectively hand control of the company back to him.

Garg’s proposal also noted that he would work for $1 until Better becomes profitable, and that he would repurchase $30 million of the company’s stock, including $10 million within the first five trading days.

Ryan Grant, president of NEO Home Loans powered by Better, characterized the proposal as essentially “noise” and part of a broader “battle to control the board.”

Better’s press release said that drama escalated earlier this week when Garg allegedly refused to sign required representation letters needed for Better to file its quarterly Form 10-Q on time. The company said his refusal was the sole reason for the delayed filing and characterized the move as an attempt to “extract self-serving concessions” from the board and directors.

“The Board is committed to acting in the best interest of all shareholders and will not be bullied into actions that they do not believe serve those interests,” Better said in a statement.

The board said shareholders have established mechanisms under Better’s corporate governance documents to change the “composition of the board” and, indirectly, the company’s leadership. But it said these processes include formal requirements designed to protect shareholders.

“The Board’s concerns extend beyond matters of corporate governance,” the release stated. “The Board has reviewed communications that, based on counsel’s analysis, evidence Mr. Garg’s direct involvement in conduct that counsel believes may constitute violations of U.S. securities laws.”

Better also pointed to Garg’s own assessment of the company’s performance. According to the board, Garg told directors that Better would have been better off if the capital raised under his leadership had been invested in U.S. Treasury securities rather than deployed under his stewardship.

Better also said that shareholders do not need to take any action at this time.

“I have secured signed declarations from shareholders representing a majority of the Company’s voting power,” Garg said in a statement. “The Board’s own documents provide a path for shareholders to act. I am just responding to angry investors who want me to lead the company.”

Rebuttal to board’s accusations

In an interview with HousingWire, Garg called the claims of securities law violations “conjecture,” adding that he does not know which communications the allegations refer to. He said his comment about investing in Treasury securities reflected a “brutal five years in the mortgage industry.”

“If you look at any mortgage company stocks from 2021 to now — any of the mortgage companies — they’ve all suffered because of the environment. So any money spent by any of these companies would have been better invested in Treasurys, which is a fact,” Garg said. “But we have survived through five very hard years, and we are nearly at the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Regarding the 10-Q signing, Garg said that on Monday, the 41-page document was sent to him for signature seven minutes after the deadline had already passed. He said that he was previously asked to speak with the company’s auditors, which he did in a “completely timely manner,” and that he had requested to review the final draft, which “had multiple changes.”

“I was given that at 5:37 p.m. by the company, which is seven minutes after the filing deadline,” he said. “Then there’s nothing I can do. The fact is, I did sign promptly after that.”

Garg said he is a better fit to lead Better at this point than Lewis, arguing that he grew the company’s revenues by 2.5 times over the past two years and signed major deals. Garg added that Better has cut its monthly losses from more than $40 million to about $4 million and is on a path to break even.

“We lost a billion dollars in the last five years — we did. And yes, if the investors put it elsewhere, they would have made more money. That’s correct. But that doesn’t mean the future is not bright.”

Asked whether it still makes sense to keep the company public, Garg said, “that’s something that will play out over the next couple of months.”