Better.com\u2019s new interim chief executive flew to the South of France for vacation during his first full week on the job \u2014 even as the mortgage lender\u2019s founder was busy orchestrating a coup to unseat him, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n
Ousted founder Vishal Garg, who made headlines in 2021<\/a> when he fired 900 workers on a Zoom call, has lined up investors representing 52% of the embattled company\u2019s voting shares in a bid to boot interim CEO Daniel Lewis and five board members, according to well-placed sources.<\/p>\n Lewis had told numerous people inside the company that he planned to spend the week in the South of France, sources said.<\/p>\n Ousted Better.com founder Vishal Garg has lined up shareholders representing 52% of the mortgage lender\u2019s voting power in a bid to remove Lewis and five board members, sources said. Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n One source said Lewis subsequently appeared on a Zoom call from what looked like a vacation setting in a different time zone. His planned trip had been openly discussed inside Better and was not a secret, sources said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s sad Vishal\u2019s life\u2019s work underperformed Treasury securities,\u201d Lewis told The Post in a statement. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never obliterated billions of dollars of shareholder value from any place at all.\u201d<\/p>\n The getaway comes amid an escalating battle for control of Better, with dissident shareholders already sending demands to the company\u2019s lawyers and preparing to forcibly remove Lewis and the directors through a shareholder vote if they refuse to resign, according to sources.<\/p>\n Better.com interim CEO Daniel Lewis flew to the South of France for vacation during his first full week on the job, according to well-placed sources. Better.com<\/p>\n The insurgent group has retained powerhouse law firm Quinn Emanuel, which has compiled shareholder consents representing the voting bloc, the sources said.<\/p>\n The process of forcing a shareholder vote could take as little as 10 days \u2014 although other avenues could stretch the showdown to 35 days, according to sources familiar with the plans.<\/p>\n The revolt comes less than two weeks after Better abruptly dumped Garg as CEO and replaced him with Lewis, an investor who had joined the company\u2019s board only about a week earlier, according to sources.<\/p>\n Lewis also pleaded guilty last year to a 2022 drunken-driving charge<\/a> in East Hampton, according to a background investigation obtained by The Post that cited public court records.<\/p>\n He received a conditional discharge, was ordered to use an ignition-interlock device for a year, had his license revoked for six months and was fined $1,000.<\/p>\n Garg was informed around 1 p.m. on Aug. 3 that he was being fired, and his company email was shut off roughly 30 minutes later while Better shares were still trading, sources said.<\/p>\n He was given no specific rationale beyond being told the board believed Lewis could do a better job, according to the sources.<\/p>\n Better.com\u2019s new interim CEO traveled to the South of France as a battle for control of the mortgage lender intensified back home, sources said. Armando Oliveira \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n Better subsequently offered Garg a vice-chair position with a hefty compensation package, sources said.<\/p>\n The company presented a sharply different account in a press release on Friday, saying every director other than Garg had unanimously voted to terminate him<\/a> following \u201ca series of decisions and actions that raised serious concerns regarding his judgment, temperament and credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n That statement marked a dramatic shift from Better\u2019s Aug. 3 announcement, which said Garg and the board had \u201cmutually agreed\u201d that he would transition out of the top job.<\/p>\n The board also blamed Garg for delaying Better\u2019s quarterly filing, saying his refusal to timely execute required representation letters was the \u201csole cause\u201d of the delay.<\/p>\n Better.com co-founder and chief legal officer Nicholas Calamari was placed on administrative leave amid the escalating battle for control of the mortgage lender, according to a well-placed source. Better.com<\/p>\n Sources close to the situation disputed that account, saying Garg repeatedly sought a final version of the 42-page filing and did not receive it until 5:37 p.m. on the day it was due \u2014 seven minutes after the filing deadline.<\/p>\n Garg reviewed the document that evening and told the company he was prepared to sign it, the sources said.<\/p>\n The board on Friday also accused Garg of presiding over more than $1.5 billion in cumulative net losses since 2022 and a stock-price decline of more than 90%.<\/p>\n Sources did not dispute the losses but argued that the bulk of them were incurred earlier in the mortgage downturn and that Better has since dramatically improved its financial performance.<\/p>\n Better reported second-quarter revenue of $54.7 million and a net loss of $30.6 million.<\/p>\n The board additionally said it had reviewed communications that, according to its lawyers, showed Garg\u2019s involvement in conduct that \u201cmay constitute violations of US securities laws.\u201d<\/p>\n Better.com has racked up more than $1.5 billion in cumulative net losses since 2022, according to its board, though the mortgage lender\u2019s financial performance has recently improved. Better.com<\/p>\n Sources close to Garg denied any securities-law violations and said neither Garg nor his attorneys had been shown the communications referenced by the board.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the turmoil has spread beyond the CEO suite.<\/p>\n Better co-founder and chief legal officer Nicholas Calamari was placed on administrative leave Sunday night and told that his position would be made redundant and terminated, according to sources familiar with the situation.<\/p>\n His company email access was cut off, and he was instructed not to report to the office or represent Better, the sources said.<\/p>\n The boardroom war follows years of upheaval at Better, which slashed its workforce after the pandemic-era mortgage boom evaporated as interest rates surged.<\/p>\n Garg drew widespread criticism in December 2021 after firing roughly 900 employees<\/a> during a Zoom call. <\/p>\n