Better.com CEO Vishal Garg to be reinstated after mass Zoom layoff controversy

Vishal Garg, the contentious founder of the digital mortgage lending service Better.com, has been reinstated as CEO following his brutal mass layoff of about 900 employees right before the holidays last year via Zoom.

In a letter sent to employees Tuesday evening obtained by SFGATE, Garg confirmed his return "to work full-time at Better" and apologized to staff for his indiscretion.

"I am deeply sorry for the angst, distraction and embarrassment my actions have caused," Garg wrote. "I've spent a lot of time thinking about where we are as a company and the type of leadership Better needs ... and the leader I want to be."

In case you forgot Garg's slew of controversies, he laid off nearly 9% of the Better.com staff on a Zoom call, then proceeded to disparage many of them on Blind, an anonymous job forum. Past reports have also painted Garg as confrontational and violent; he once reportedly threatened to staple his former Better.com business partner to a wall and burn him alive.

Garg promised to "be more conscious of the impact" of his words and "placing more trust" in other company leaders in his letter.

Garg's letter followed a lengthy internal memo, first obtained by the Daily Beast and reviewed by SFGATE, in which the company's board of directors emphasized having "an inclusive and respectful culture" within the company — part of which apparently included giving Garg "an executive coach" and a monthlong break "to reflect on his leadership."

"We are confident in Vishal and in the changes he is committed to making to provide the type of leadership, focus and vision that Better needs at this pivotal time," the letter reads.

The "pivotal time" is likely in reference to the company going public; before Garg's mass firing went viral, the company received a massive cash infusion from SoftBank and Aurora Acquisition that company Chief Financial Officer Kevin Ryan said would give Better "$1 billion of cash on the company's balance sheet," TechCrunch reported.

The Daily Beast, however, noted that worker morale at Better.com is in the gutter, with one employee calling day-to-day operations "a complete dumpster fire." Better.com has offices in Oakland.