Court Finds Interim CEO and Board Misstated Law
NEW YORK, Sept. 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hon. U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett denied Better Home & Finance's motion to halt Vishal Garg's shareholder campaign, clearing the way for the company's true CEO to move forward with his effort to remove the rogue Board led by usurping Director Daniel Lewis.
The August 28 ruling in the Southern District of New York clears the way for Mr. Garg to move forward with a shareholder vote to remove Lewis' five tame Better's directors that gave Lewis control of the eight-member Board.
Represented by Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel, Garg is seeking to restore shareholder choice after the Board removed him as CEO on August 3 and installed director Daniel Lewis as interim CEO - just one week after Lewis joined the Board. In a move without precedent in proxy battles, Lewis sought to replace Better's founder and CEO while positioning himself to lead the Company, despite no demonstrated turnaround-CEO experience.
Shareholders should consider whether Daniel Lewis's background is suited to leading Better at this critical moment. Lewis's prior activist experience has centered on hard-asset businesses with operating models materially different from Better's technology-enabled consumer platform. This is also the first time Lewis has sought to remove a sitting CEO and assume the CEO role himself. Better's future depends on sustained product investment, innovation, and execution - responsibilities that extend far beyond financial engineering.
Lewis and Better sought to prevent the vote by obtaining an injunction against Mr. Garg, but Judge Garnett found Lewis' and Better's claim suffered from a "fatal deficiency" in that he and Better could not show that the Company would suffer "irreparable harm" if the injunction was not granted.
In the two years leading up to his ouster, Mr. Garg had increased revenues by 2.5x, improved contribution margin by 4x, and diversified the business from being a DTC mortgage originator, to its Tinman AI platform generating over 60% of revenue. Since hitting a low of $8 per share in January 2025, BETR's stock price had recovered to $27 the day before Mr. Garg's ouster. The timeline below details the sequence of events leading to Garg's termination, Lewis's appointment, the adoption of the poison pill, and the Court's August 28 decision allowing Garg's campaign to proceed.
Key Chronology of Events
On May 21, the Board moved to approve a $6 million performance-equity bonus for Mr. Garg. He declined it, telling Board Chairman Harit Talwar to "hold off on approval," citing shareholder interests.
On June 10, Mr. Garg was re-elected to the Board with 99.53% shareholder support, but Lewis nevertheless launched a campaign to oust Mr. Garg. Despite this, when Lewis shows up, they wrongfully oust Mr. Garg," Mr. Spiro said.
On August 3, Lewis and the Board fired Mr. Garg after lavishing him with praise immediately before his ouster.
Three days after wrongfully firing Mr. Garg, the Board offered Mr. Garg a return as Vice Chairman and Senior Advisor, with a package including 875,000 shares (valued at more than $15 million at the time of the offer) and $750,000 in annual cash compensation over 16 months.
In response, Mr. Garg filed suit against the Board pending in Delaware Chancery Court, and informed the Board that he had the votes to oust the rogue Board members.
The Board moved for the preliminary injunction to stop Mr. Garg, with Judge Garnett denying the motion on August 28.
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