Better.com loses 4 senior execs ahead of alleged additional lay offs

Nearly three months after a mass layoff via Zoom went viral, four top executives have apparently resigned from Better.com.

Clayton Carol, the company's VP of finance; Christian Wallace, the company's head of real estate; Paul Tyger, the company's general manager of buy; and Stephen Rosen, the company's head of sales, have all recently resigned.

Carol announced his retirement in a LinkedIn post on February 16, noting that he was departing after nearly three years as VP of finance. He expressed himself as follows:

“I have decided to leave and seek new opportunities. My time at Better was an incredibly rewarding experience and I am grateful to my colleagues, particularly those in the finance and accounting team, for their trust and camaraderie over these years. I learned so much from all of you and I am amazed at what we accomplished.”

Wallace joined Better in March 2020 as a sales director before moving up to head of sales and then head of real estate services in March 2021, according to LinkedIn. Rosen started as a growth associate in December 2016 and rose through the ranks to become the company's chief of staff and director of sales strategy and operations. Tyger joined the company in 2019 as director of business operations, while Rosen started as a growth associate in December 2016 and rose through the ranks to become the company's chief of staff and director of sales strategy and operations.

According to various sources acquainted with the firm's internal occurrences, the senior executives resigned from Better.com nearly three months after the online mortgage lender laid off 900 employees via Zoom and as the company prepares for more layoffs. Current and former employees are among the sources.

The move drew criticism for the company’s CEO Vishal Garg's handling of the layoffs. In a letter to all staff, Garg expressed his regret: "I made the choice to lay people off, but I botched the execution in communicating it. I embarrassed you by doing so."

According to an internal document obtained by Insider, Garg announced that he was "taking time off effective immediately" just days after the major layoff. Insider reached out to the four executives and Better.com for comment outside of usual business hours, but they did not immediately answer.

TechCrunch broke the news, citing various insiders acquainted with the company's inner workings.

Sources told TechCrunch that more layoffs are scheduled for March, affecting 40 percent to 50 percent of the company's workforce. Better.com has been more aggressive in laying off US employees than Indian employees, according to Bloomberg, which could be owing to the low cost of labor.

Better.com did not react to Insider's request for comment, which was submitted outside of US business hours. Better's investors claimed Garg misappropriated at least $1.6 million of their assets to fuel his own enterprises.

The upheaval may be affecting the company's bottom line. According to a recent SEC filing, the company's fourth-quarter net loss might approach $182 million, with revenue falling by as much as 22% from the previous quarter. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported earlier this week that Better.com had increased its employment in India, allegedly due to lower labor costs.