Vishal Garg's return as Better.com CEO triggers more resignations

With the controversial Indian-origin Better.com CEO Vishal Garg, who was massively trolled for laying off 900 employees over a Zoom meeting call, returning back at the helm, the exodus of senior executives at the digital mortgage company continues.

Sarah Pierce, who served as executive vice president of customer experience, sales and operations, and Emanuel Santa-Donato, who was senior vice president of capital markets and growth, have quit, reports TechCrunch.

"Pierce was reportedly upset with the way Garg publicly disparaged the employees, the majority of whom had reported to her, after callously laying them off via Zoom," the report said late on Thursday.

"Throughout my time, I would always get asked what keeps you at Better?' From my first day to my last, my answer never changed: the people. For six years, I got to work with some of the smartest and hardest working people I have ever met," Pierce posted on LinkedIn.

"To my colleagues at Better, I will miss you. And to the people who have left Better, it has been so inspiring to see the unbelievable steps you are taking in your careers and amazing companies you are joining."

Two board members, Raj Date and Dinesh Chopra, recently resigned.

According to the report, employees were reportedly leaving the company in "droves" after Garg returned to his role as CEO after a month-long break.

In December 2021, Garg laid off nearly 900 employees even after his company, which is a digital mortgage lender, had announced it received a cash infusion of about $750 million from Aurora Acquisition Corp and SoftBank.

A couple of days after that Zoom meeting, senior communications and public relations executives stepped down.

Garg later issued an apology for the embarrassing act that made headlines globally and hundreds of memes on social media platforms.