The CEO of Better.com, Vishal Garg, said he cried the last time he fired people over Zoom. This time, he said, "I hope to be stronger" (1). He seemed to accomplish his goal as he laid off 900 employees in December 2021, approximately 9% of the company workforce, because he appeared cold and emotionless (2). He said the company, a digital mortgage lender, was facing productivity and performance problems in a changing market. Expected to go public at a value of $7.7 billion in August 2021 (3). Curiously, the top executives enjoy high salaries and millions of dollars in stock options. On December 10, 2021, Better.com announced that Garg would be taking time off due to “very regrettable events over the last week" (6).
The harsh firing may not be so surprising given the CEO's history at the company. One of Garg's emails email stated, "You are TOO DAMN SLOW. You are a bunch of DUMB DOLPHINS... SO STOP IT. STOP IT. STOP IT RIGHT NOW. YOU ARE EMBARRASSING ME" (2). This was not his first unbelievable outburst because he threatened his business partner in 2019 that he would "staple him against a f*****g wall and burn him alive" (3). Employees describe him as 'controlling', also, making sure refrigerators are filled with certain brands of water, for example.
The unpredictable behaviors extended to his hiring of a young (mid-20s) executive named Elana Knoller, now Chief Product Officer (CPO) and, frankly, no more civilized than her boss. Employees reported that those who complained about her management were put on performance improvement plans (5). Despite the CEO's abusive behavior, she apparently reached a similar standard in employees' reports by creating "a culture of intimidation and retaliation." Furthermore, her stock options (vested immediately) reached 8 figures, including $8,000 a month for her 2 homes. Amid these decisions, two Board members stepped down and the question remains why Garg hired her and now supports her so egregiously? Don't despair, though, because the practice of showering other senior executives was not lacking with substantial lesser, though extreme, benefits.
One shocking element of the story of Better.com is that the same financiers of the company also financed WeWork, the ill-fated company seemingly destroyed by a toxic and abusive corporate culture created by the CEO, Andy Neumann.
Unfortunately, this type of culture and yelling at employees is not illegal (4). "Discriminatory yelling" is illegal. What's the difference? One is a targeted behavior due to a person's gender, race, or religion. The other is, frankly, a leadership 'style', though an ill-advised one. Some companies have 'anti-bullying' policies.
Topics
Corporate culture, Leadership, Bullying
Related Issues to Investigate
Adaptive performance. Creativity at work and looking at problems from different perspectives.
Abusive Environments. Look up the saga of WeWork. Check out the fact that the same financiers of WeWork funded Better.com. How does this extreme work environment occur for two of their huge investments?
Leadership 'style' of intimidation in successful companies. What CEOs are well-known for yelling and even bullying behavior. Andy Neumann (prior question) is one, but also Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos, as referenced in citation 4.
Anti-bullying policies. What are anti-bullying policies or similar work environment guidelines?
Positive organizational scholarship. Look up the Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan - https://positiveorgs.bus.umich.edu/ - What can they find as guidelines for healthy leadership styles?
References