--- title: "The CEO Who Fired 900 People Over Zoom Is in Big Legal Trouble" description: "After firing scores of employees over Zoom, the CEO of Better.com is in legal hot water for allegedly defrauding investors. " date: "2022-06-09" modified: "2022-06-09" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/better-ceo-lawsuit" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "finance" - "fraud" - "housing" - "lawsuit" - "the digest" - "zoom" --- # The CEO Who Fired 900 People Over Zoom Is in Big Legal Trouble ![After firing scores of employees over Zoom, the CEO of Better.com is in legal hot water for allegedly defrauding investors. ]() *\Image: Scott Rosenthal via Wikimedia Commons\* ## Better Faster Lawyer One of the most notorious CEOs in the country is in legal hot water for allegedly defrauding investors. Best known for [firing 900 people in a video call](), Better.com CEO Vishal Garg is now, [as the *Wall Street Journal* reports,]() being sued for misrepresenting his company's prospects while it attempts to go public at a onetime valuation of more than $7 billion. In the lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, former Better executive Sarah Pierce alleges that after she discussed these issues with Garg earlier this year, she was [pushed out of the company]() in retaliation. A [source familiar with the matter told *TechCrunch*]() that Garg "wouldn't listen" to Pierce or anyone else about this issue, and "was always exaggerating" the company's numbers ahead of its planned merger, which has been in the works since May 2021. Unsurprisingly, Better disputes these [Theranos-esque]() allegations, and told the *WSJ* in a statement that they are "without merit." ## Rick and Mortgage Billed as an alternative to traditional mortgage lending, Better initially made its name as property rates plummeted during the financial pains of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this first quarter of 2021, it [raised $500 million from SoftBank]() and subsequently announced that it was [looking to go public](). But then things went south. The housing market started to bounce back and even inflate last fall, and in early December 2021, [Garg notoriously laid off 900 people](), which accounted for 10 percent of Better's workforce, ahead of the winter holidays. Just over a week after the universally-denounced firings, Better's board of directors announced to the company via email that [Garg was "taking time off" as CEO](). Then he [returned to the role]() about five weeks later, which triggered an employee exodus as [Better workers voluntarily left the company "in droves"]() to protest his reinstatement. It's been a particularly bad time at Better for, well, the better part of the last year. And with this latest hurdle, it seems like that $7 billion merger isn't likely to go through anytime soon. **READ MORE:** [Better.com Misled Investors Ahead of Stalled SPAC Deal, Former Executive Alleges]() \[*The Wall Street Journal*\] **More on alleged fraudsters:** *[Of Course the Guy Behind Fyre Fest is Selling NFTs Now]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()