Vishal Garg Steps Down as Better CEO; Board Appoints Daniel Lewis Interim Leader

Better Home & Finance Holding Co. has announced a significant leadership change, with founder Vishal Garg stepping down as Chief Executive Officer. Effective immediately, Daniel Lewis, a current member of the company's board, has been appointed as interim CEO. Garg will continue his involvement with Better by remaining on the company's board of directors and will work closely with Lewis to ensure a seamless and orderly transition of leadership responsibilities. In his capacity as interim CEO, Lewis is tasked with managing the day-to-day operations of the organization, executing the strategic operating plan approved by the board, and charting the company's future strategic direction. Lewis brings an extensive background to the role, boasting over 30 years of experience across operating, investment, and governance capacities. His recent executive experience includes serving as the CEO of Ascend Fundraising Solutions, a Toronto-based software company, from 2018 to 2023. Prior to this, Lewis held positions within Citigroup and was the founder of Orange Capital LLC, a notable investment firm. Harit Talwar, the chairman of Better's board, commended Garg's foundational contributions, specifically highlighting the development of the company's proprietary Tinman platform and the creation of Betsy, an initiative that introduced much-needed automation to a mortgage process that had remained largely unchanged for decades. Talwar characterized the current moment as an "important inflection point" for Better, suggesting that the timing is opportune for new leadership to guide the company forward. Garg himself echoed this sentiment, stating that the company is at a pivotal stage and that new leadership is appropriate. He also provided a quantitative overview of Better's impact under his tenure, noting that over the past ten years, the company has facilitated home purchases or refinancings for more than 600,000 customers, representing over $110 billion in total loan volume. The company has also indicated that a substantial portion of Lewis's compensation, which will be determined by the board, will be directly linked to shareholder returns and the company's long-term operating performance. This compensation structure is designed to align the interests of the leadership team with those of the investors, particularly as Better intensifies its efforts to achieve profitability. Under Lewis's interim leadership, Better is set to refine its strategic focus, emphasizing a platform-centric business model. This strategy involves partnering with entities that will manage customer acquisition, while Better concentrates its resources on highly efficient mortgage manufacturing and technological innovation. Lewis articulated this shift by stating that Better's future success will be driven by "leveraging that experience to manufacture mortgages efficiently, not by outspending competitors on customer acquisition." He further elaborated that all of Better's distribution channels are powered by its integrated Tinman platform, which provides the essential technological, underwriting, operational, capital markets, and regulatory infrastructure necessary to scale volume while maintaining structurally lower unit costs.