Vishal Garg | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1977 or 1978 (age 47–48) [1] |
| Known for | CEO of Better.com Co-founder of MyRichUncle |
| Spouse | Sarita James |
| Website | www |
Vishal Garg (born 1977 or 1978) is an Indian-American businessman who is the founder and chief executive officer of Better.com, a mortgage loan broker. Previously, he co-founded MyRichUncle, focused on student loans.
Born in India, Garg moved to Queens when he was seven, and grew up in Forest Hills. [2] While attending Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, he resold books, CliffsNotes study guides, and thrift store clothes at a profit. Garg graduated from Stuyvesant in 1995. [3] He then studied finance and international business at the New York University Stern School of Business [4] while working as a runner and entry clerk for Salomon Brothers [2] and as a trader for VZB Partners, a hedge fund. [4]
After graduating university, Garg worked in the mergers and acquisitions department at Morgan Stanley as an analyst. [4] [5] He quit the job on his 21st birthday and founded One Zero Capital, a small hedge fund that invested in technology companies in India and Latin America. [5]
In 2000, with the profits from his hedge fund, Garg co-founded a student finance company that became MyRichUncle, which grew to employ 300 people and became the second largest private student lender in the United States. [5] The company became a public company in 2005 but filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7, Title 11, United States Code during the 2008 financial crisis. [5]
In 2009, Garg co-founded special servicing company EIFC. Beginning in August 2009, Garg jointly led a new asset-backed securities team at Aram Global, an asset recovery firm. [6]
In 2013, Garg co-founded Future Finance, a provider of student loans to students in the UK, with Brian Norton. [7] [5]
In 2014, he founded Climb Credit, targeted at US programs with relatively lower costs and higher graduate employment rates, with Zander Rafael and Amit Sinha. [8] [5]
Also in 2014, after a frustrating experience trying to obtain a mortgage, Garg founded Better.com, an online mortgage broker. [9] [10] Garg acquired Avex Funding of California to provide the new company with licenses and an operating platform to originate mortgages online. [10] The company became a public company via a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company in 2023. [11]
In November 2020, Garg was quoted in an e-mail in which he chided employees as "a bunch of DUMB DOLPHINS". [12] In December 2021, a video was disseminated of him abruptly firing 900 people in the United States and India through a videotelephony call conducted on December 2, 2021. [1] [12] [13] [14] He also insulted Better.com employees on Blind. [15]
Following public outrage, Garg apologized and wrote in a letter to employees that he had "failed to show the appropriate amount of respect and appreciation for the individuals who were affected". [16] [17] He remained CEO and in January 2022 the company conducted a review of its internal culture. [18] A video emerged of Garg blaming himself for "overhir[ing]", [19] and a second round of layoffs took place in March 2022 after Garg's return, with the company also offering 60-day severance packages to employees who voluntarily resigned. [20]
Garg lives in Manhattan with his wife, Sarita James, [21] and three children. [22]
Garg has made donations to political candidates and organizations including the Serve America PAC supporting veterans and several members of the Democratic Party, including Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, and Elizabeth Warren. [23]