Better.com chief executive Vishal Garg will spend the remainder of 2021 in a forced hiatus and, hopefully, contemplating his erratic behaviour that saw him go viral for all the wrong reasons.
Vishal Garg: Better.com CEO temporarily replaced
As reported by Tech Crunch, a mass email sent to employees of the US-based digital mortgage martekplace confirmed that Garg had been instructed to step away from his duties as a result of the “very regrettable events over the last week.”
The intervention from the board comes a week after Garg, during a Zoom call that was recorded and leaked online, fired more than 900 of his employees, citing performance challenges as the reason.
However, further investigations found that the 43-year-old used a burner account on Blind (a virtual platform for workers to share honest opinions about their jobs anonymously) to stalk and, worse, troll employees.
He also used the platform to state the real reason behind firing 6% of the company’s workforce.
“You guys know that at least 250 of the people terminated were working an average of two hours a day while clocking in eight hours+ a day in the payroll system? They were stealing from you and stealing from our customers who pay the bills that pay your bills. Get educated,” he wrote.
Following the leak of the virtual mass layoff that was widely condemned, by the way, Better.com hired a crisis firm to restore confidence and fine-tune leadership style, with the view of building “a long-term sustainable and positive culture at Better.”
Chief Financial Officer Kevin Ryan has stepped into the role on a temporary basis.
Here is footage of the viral clip that sent shockwaves across the virtual world last week:
Vishal Garg: “I wish I didn’t have to lay off 900 of you over a zoom call but I’m gonna lay y’all off right before the holidays lmfaooo”pic.twitter.com/6bxPGTemEG
— litquidity (@litcapital) December 5, 2021