Garg, who made headlines for laying off 900 employees on a company Zoom just before the 2021 holiday season, says he was fired on August 3 just as he brought the company to the precipice of success.
Better has been through a lot with Garg at the helm over the past several years. During the pandemic-fueled refinancing boom when mortgage rates were below 3%, the company held an $8 billion valuation. Today, with an imploded refi business and rates closing in on 7%, the AI mortgage company’s market value stands at just $300 million.
Toss in a leave of absence after the embarrassing Zoom layoff fiasco, a whistleblower lawsuit (it was dropped), an investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission (nothing came of it), a disastrous 2023 SPAC merger that sent the company’s stock cratering 93% and years of mounting losses … it’s a minor miracle that Garg lasted this long as CEO.
But Garg says he was just about to deliver on the company’s unlikely turnaround.
Oh brah, that sucks brah. But look, you know about AI so finding a new job will be a fun exercise for you as you realize all the hiring pipelines are completely broken because of AI.
Maybe I’m stupid, but how does a mortgage company lose valuation when premiums increase?
Like hello, your returns are now greater than before. Did they make some AI calculation, for locked interest rates for their customers and then financed it by taking on fluid interest rates as a company?
Their whole business model was based around getting people to refinance. When rates are up, people don’t refinance.
US mortgages are almost always fixed-rate, so increased interest rates don’t change the premiums for existing mortgages, hence the drive to refinance when rates are low.
A lot of them are variable-rate which is just insane. You’re allowing your mortgage lender to charge you whatever interest rate they feel like charging, with your only out being the hassle of refinancing.
Oh brah, that sucks brah. But look, you know about AI so finding a new job will be a fun exercise for you as you realize all the hiring pipelines are completely broken because of AI.
Generally when people talk about success they don’t describe it as a “precipice”…
Maybe that’s why the company fell 93%, the CEO thought taking a dive off a cliff was a “success”
Shouldn’t this be the foothills of success. If it’s a precipice then the way ahead is down.
Maybe I’m stupid, but how does a mortgage company lose valuation when premiums increase?
Like hello, your returns are now greater than before. Did they make some AI calculation, for locked interest rates for their customers and then financed it by taking on fluid interest rates as a company?
Their whole business model was based around getting people to refinance. When rates are up, people don’t refinance.
US mortgages are almost always fixed-rate, so increased interest rates don’t change the premiums for existing mortgages, hence the drive to refinance when rates are low.
A lot of them are variable-rate which is just insane. You’re allowing your mortgage lender to charge you whatever interest rate they feel like charging, with your only out being the hassle of refinancing.
93%?! Fucking hell, that’s really bad.