| Vishal Garg | |
| Nationality: | Indian-American |
| Occupation: | entrepreneur |
| Known For: | CEO of Better.com co-founder of MyRichUncle |
| Spouse: | Sarita James |
Vishal Garg (born 1977 or 1978)[1] is an Indian-American entrepreneur. He is the chief executive officer of mortgage lending company Better.com and previously co-founded the student loan company MyRichUncle.
Born in India, Garg moved to the Queens borough of New York City when he was seven, and grew up in Forest Hills.[2] While attending the academic magnet Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, he resold books, CliffsNotes study guides, and thrift store clothes at a profit. Beginning in 1995 he studied finance and international business in the Stern School of Business at New York University[3] while working as a runner and entry clerk for Salomon Brothers[2] and as a trader for VZB Partners, a hedge fund.[4] After graduation, he worked in the Investment Banking Department at Morgan Stanley as an analyst.[4]
Garg co-founded a student finance company in 2000 that became the online student loan provider MyRichUncle, which grew to employ 300 people and became the second largest private student lender in the United States.[5] The company went public in 2005 on the NASDAQ,[6] and in 2006 Garg was listed in both Fast Companys Fast 50 and Business Weeks Young Entrepreneurs of Tech.[7] [8]
In 2009, Garg co-founded special servicing company EIFC. Beginning in August 2009, Garg jointly led a new asset-backed securities team at Aram Global, an asset recovery firm.[9] Garg later co-founded two further student loan companies: Future Finance, a provider of student loans to students in the UK, with Brian Norton in 2013,[10] and Climb Credit, targeted at US programs with relatively lower costs and higher graduate employment rates, with Zander Rafael and Amit Sinha in 2014.[11]
In 2014, after a frustrating experience trying to obtain a mortgage, Garg founded Better.com, an online mortgage broker backed by venture capital from Goldman Sachs, Kleiner Perkins, Softbank, Ally Bank, American Express Ventures, and others.[12] [13]
At an early stage, he acquired Avex Funding of California to provide the new company with licenses and an operating platform to originate mortgages online in the continuing aftermath of the financial crisis.[13] The company’s online product offering was successful and led to over 800% growth in 2020 from $100 million in revenue to $800 million in annual revenue.[14] In October 2022, the company announced that it surpassed $100 billion in loans funded, the first fintech company to reach that milestone.[15] In 2021, Better raised additional capital at a $7.7 billion valuation.[16] Since its founding, Better has also originated more than $38 billion in insurance, and over $3 billion in real estate transactions.[17]
Better was named Best Online Mortgage Lender for Robust Online Lending by Forbes in 2024,[18] and Best Mortgage Lender for Affordability by the Wall Street Journal in 2023,[19] and ranked #1 on LinkedIn’s Top Startups List for 2021,[20] and 2020[21] #1 on Fortune’s Best Small and Medium Workplaces in New York,[22] #15 on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 2020 list,[23] and was listed on Forbes FinTech 50 for 2020.[24]
In 2023, Better went public on the NASDAQ under the symbol BETR.[25] However, given the large increase in U.S. interest rates from 2021 to 2023, Better's stock price fell drastically immediately after going public.[26] Still, in Better’s earnings release for 1Q24, the company announced that its revenue and loan volume grew over 25% compared to the previous quarter.[27] As of June 2024, Garg's equity stake in Better.com is just above 9%.[28]
Garg has won numerous awards for his work at Better, including Goldman Sachs Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs in 2018,[29] HousingWire Rising Stars in 2017,[30] and E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year in 2020.[31] In June 2024, he was named one of Inman's 2024 Best of Finance awardees.[32] According to Inman, recipients were selected by the editorial team as being “the real estate community’s best and brightest in the mortgage and finance space, and those pushing the envelope and reshaping homeownership.”[33]
In addition to awards, Better has undertaken charitable community service efforts to make homeownership more accessible for all Americans, including its Better Home Giveaway, which awarded a home to a family who struggled with purchasing a house and who had an impact on their local community.[34] The company also provides qualifying customers access to HOPE Grants, giving families cash for down payments and home purchasing costs.[35]
On stage at the Inman Connect conference in January 2023, Garg announced the world’s first One Day Mortgage.[36] In February 2023, the company partnered with Amazon, and announced Equity Unlocker, a product that allows Amazon employees to use their company shares as collateral when purchasing a home, without having to liquidate their stock.[37]
Controversies
Garg's treatment of employees has attracted negative publicity. In November 2020, he was quoted in an e-mail in which he chided some of them as "a bunch of DUMB DOLPHINS".[38] In December 2021, a video was widely disseminated of him abruptly firing 900 people in the United States and India through a videoconferencing call conducted on December 2nd, 2021.[39] [38] [40] [41] [42] 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".[43] [44] He remained CEO and in January 2022 the company conducted a review of its internal culture.[45] A video subsequently emerged of Garg blaming himself for "overhir[ing]",[46] and a second round of layoffs took place in March 2022 after Garg's return, with the company later also offering 60-day severance packages to employees who voluntarily resigned.[47] In June 2022, a former senior executive at Better.com filed a lawsuit alleging that Garg misled investors in its financial filings and other representations while it tried to go public.[48] [49] As of April 2024, Better won a judgment against her and her complaint was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice.[50]
Garg lives in Manhattan with his wife, Sarita James,[51] and three children.[52] In 2021, he launched a partnership with the Fund for Public Schools in NYC, donating nearly $2M to purchase Chromebooks, iPads, Wi-Fi hotspots, books, and uniforms for New York City public school students from low-income backgrounds.[53] The project supported over 30,000 students learning online during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, Mr. Garg won the Golden Pegleg award from Stuyvesant High School Alumni Association for his charitable works related to economically disadvantaged children.[54]
Garg has made donations to political candidates and organizations including the Serve America PAC supporting veterans.[55]