Vishal Garg (businessman)

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

For the energy researcher, see Vishal Garg.

Early life and education

Born in India, Garg moved to the Queens borough of New York City when he was seven. While attending the academic magnet Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, he resold books, CliffsNotes study guides, and thrift store clothes at a profit. In 1995 he began studying finance and international business at New York University.[1]

MyRichUncle

With Raza Khan, a fellow Indian immigrant whom he met in high school and who studied computer science in the same class at New York University, Garg founded a mortgage investment company in 2000 that became the online student loan provider MyRichUncle. Khan's brother provided an initial capital investment.[1][2]

Embark and EIFC

MyRichUncle was caught up in the repercussions of the subprime mortgage crisis and its parent company, MRU Holdings, declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2009. Garg and Khan continued to operate Embark, a provider of admissions software to higher education that MRU Holdings had purchased in 2007.[3] In addition, they used software developed for the company to start EIFC, a company that analyzed loan portfolios to identify potentially problematic loans. Khan became concerned that Embark was misusing funds and that Garg was siphoning money from EIFC, resigned from both, and in 2013 filed a lawsuit against Garg.[1][3]

Better.com

In 2014, Garg founded Better.com, an online mortgage broker backed by venture capital.[1] In August 2021, The Daily Beast estimated his equity in the business to be worth at least $1 billion.[4]

Khan has alleged that Garg misappropriated both funds and proprietary software to launch Better.com, and a group of investors has also filed suit alleging diversion of funds through a venture capital firm founded by Garg called 1/0 Capital.[1] In a deposition in December 2019 in his counter-suit against Khan, court documents state that Garg threatened to "staple him against a fucking wall and burn him alive"; Garg apologized later in the same session.[1][4]

Garg's treatment of employees has attracted negative publicity. In November 2020, Forbes quoted an e-mail in which he chided them as "a bunch of DUMB DOLPHINS".[1][5] In December 2021, a video was widely disseminated of him abruptly firing 900 people in the United States and India through a videoconferencing call shortly before Christmas.[2][5][6][7][8] 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".[9]

Personal life

Garg is married to Sarita James, who has served as president of Embark.[3][10]

See also

References
  1. Jeans, David; Kirsch, Noah (November 20, 2020). "Mortgages, Fraud Claims and 'Dumb Dolphins': A Tangled Past Haunts Better.com CEO Vishal Garg". Forbes. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  2. Graziosi, Graig (December 6, 2021). "Who is Vishal Garg, the CEO that fired 900 employees over Zoom call?". The Independent.
  3. Rivard, Ry (July 3, 2014). "Troubles at Embark". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  4. 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.
  5. Timmins, Beth (December 7, 2021). "Vishal Garg: US boss fires 900 employees over Zoom". BBC News business. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  6. 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.
  7. Sweeney, Don (December 5, 2021). "Hundreds join company's pre-holiday Zoom call — to be told they've lost their jobs". Sacramento Bee.
  8. "WATCH: Better.com CEO Vishal Garg fires 15% of its workforce over Zoom call". The Tribune. Chandigarh. December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  9. 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.
  10. "Team - Embark". Embark - Online Application and Admissions Software. March 30, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
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