Top executives at Better.com resign after CEO fires 900 employees

After calling some employees lazy and unproductive, and likening their actions to “stealing from our customers”, Better.com chief executive officer  Vishal Garg on Wednesday fired 900 people .

Now, the  mortgage company’s top three executive have left the company, the Insider reported. 

The company’s head of marketing Melanie Hahn, head of public relations Tanya Hayre Gillogley and vice president of communications Patrick Lenihan have all resigned. 

The divisive style of leadership displayed by Garg was directly responsible for the decision, sources said. 

“Anyone who is leaving right now, these are folks that have tried to make it work, and given their all to a company they believe in, but who ultimately get undermined by a CEO that doesn’t take advice from anyone and believes he’s always right,” the media firm quoted a person aware of the developments.

The CEO had cited the market, performance and productivity as reasons behind the decision to lay off employees in the United States and India.

Better.com said in May it would go public through a merger with blank-check firm Aurora Acquisition Corp, in a deal that valued it at $7.7 billion.

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in New York, Better.com, which is backed by SoftBank, is a mortgage lender for home buyers seeking rates, loans and other resources, and is licensed to underwrite mortgages in 47 states and Washington, DC. The company’s mission is to make homeownership “simpler, faster — and most importantly, more accessibly for all Americans,” according to its website.

SoftBank has struggled with some of its investments, including bailing out WeWork, the office-space leasing giant, when it withdrew the 2019 initial public offering and was in danger of bankruptcy. Employees at Better.com have complained previously about toxic executive behaviour in the workplace.

Last year, WW International, the company formerly known as Weight Watchers, was also criticized for mass firings over Zoom.