Interim CEO vacations in France as founder rallies shareholders to oust him

In his first full week as interim chief executive, Daniel Lewis flew to the South of France, a vacation that was openly discussed within Better.com. At the same time, former founder Vishal Garg, who made headlines in 2021 for a mass Zoom-call layoff, has secured backing from shareholders controlling 52% of the company’s voting shares to challenge Lewis and five board members. The dissenting group has retained law firm Quinn Emanuel to compile shareholder consents and is preparing a vote that could be called in as little as ten days, though alternative routes might stretch the confrontation to 35 days.

Better.com had dismissed Garg two weeks earlier, cutting off his email and offering a vice-chair position with a sizable compensation package, while also accusing him of delaying a quarterly filing and of possible securities-law violations. Garg’s allies dispute the filing delay claim and deny any wrongdoing. Additionally, co-founder and chief legal officer Nicholas Calamari was placed on administrative leave and told his role would be terminated.