Vishal Garg, the founder and former CEO of Better Home & Finance Holding Co., is seeking to regain control of the company after securing support from shareholders holding a majority of its voting power.
Гарг has retained attorney Alex Spiro in connection with the shareholder action, according to an announcement Thursday evening.
In a letter delivered to Better’s board, Garg said he has signed declarations from shareholders representing a majority of the company’s voting power in support of the positions outlined in an Aug. 10 letter to Better. The declarations could be used to call a special meeting of shareholders if the board does not make the requested changes.
The letter and announcement come just 10 days after it was announced that Daniel Lewis, а board member, would be succeeding Garg as Better’s interim CEO. Garg told ЖильеПроволока then that he remained “Better’s founder, a board director, its single largest voting shareholder.”
During the same week, Better’s Q2 2026 earnings were released. The company posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of $14 million in the second quarter and expects that loss to rise to between $15 million and $18 million in Q3 2026.
In previous earnings reports, Better said it expected to reach profitability by the end of Q3 2026, following 11 consecutive quarters of losses. The company went public in 2023 through a merger with special purpose acquisition company Aurora Acquisition Corp., and its stock has since fallen more than 90%.
To remedy the losses, Garg said in his proposal that he would work for $1 until Better becomes profitable and repurchase $30 million of the company’s stock, including $10 million within the first five trading days.
Garg’s proposal also demanded that all directors other than himself, Michael Farello and Hugh Frater resign. He proposed working with a newly constituted board to focus on profitability, shareholder value and long-term leadership.
He also proposed launching a retained search for Better’s long-term CEO with a new board and special committee. After a successor is appointed, Garg said he would transition to either chairman or chief product and innovation officer.
The plan also calls for Better to continue its cost-reduction efforts and scale its Tinman AI platform, as well as complete the sale of its U.K. banking business. The sale is expected to generate about $74 million in gross proceeds, subject to regulatory approval.
Garg pointed to improvements in Better’s underlying business as evidence that the company’s turnaround is gaining traction. Since the first quarter of 2024, revenue and funded loan volume have each increased more than 2.5 times.
Quarterly revenue rose from about $20 million in the first quarter of 2024 to $54.7 million in the second quarter of 2026. Funded loan volume increased from about $600 million to $1.67 billion over the same period.
Better has also reduced its cost to produce a loan from about $12,000 to less than $3,000, which Garg attributed to the expansion of Tinman AI. He said Better could be generating between $5 million and $10 million in positive adjusted EBITDA per month absent the macroeconomic effects associated with disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Better is at an inflection point,” Garg said. “We spent years rebuilding this company around technology, dramatically lowering the cost to originate a mortgage and putting Better in a position to scale.”
The shareholder action comes after significant volatility in Better’s shares following recent leadership changes at the company. Garg said Better’s current valuation does not reflect the operational improvements underway and that changes are needed to restore shareholder confidence and protect long-term value.
Garg’s counsel has told Better’s board that the shareholder declarations can be provided to the company’s outside counsel on an attorneys’-eyes-only basis to verify that Garg has sufficient voting support to pursue the proposed actions.
Ryan Grant, президент NEO Home Loans powered by Better, said that the proposal is essentially “noise” and a “battle to control the board.”
“We just can’t really concern ourselves with it right now,” he told ЖильеПроволока. “Like we know exactly what we need to do to run a profitable organization. … We have to continue on the path that we’re on.”
Grant said that the “power struggle” is “drama” at this point. “It’s almost indifferent at this point as to who the CEO is, as long as the CEO doesn’t change our existing prioritization. Both of them have their strengths. Both of them have their weaknesses, just like the rest of us.”
This article was written by Sarah Wolak with the assistance of HousingWire Automation, then reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.
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