Better.com's CEO fired 900 people on a single Zoom call, three weeks before Christmas.

Vishal Garg dialed into a Zoom webinar on the morning of December 1, 2021, with roughly 900 Better.com employees on the line. He delivered the news in under three minutes, then logged off. The recording leaked within hours and spent the rest of the week metastasizing on TikTok and Twitter.

What He Actually Said

The opening line, captured on the leaked recording: "If you're on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off. Your employment here is terminated, effective immediately." Garg told the call this was the second time in his career he had done a mass firing. "The last time I did it I cried," he said. "Um, this time, I hope to be stronger." Severance was a month's pay and three months of benefits, details to follow by email to personal addresses.

The Money Behind the Timing

The day before the call, on November 30, 2021, Better and its SPAC partner Aurora Acquisition Corp announced an amended financing agreement with SoftBank: $750 million in cash up front, half of the $1.5 billion already committed, accelerated ahead of the SPAC merger close. The layoffs landed three weeks before Christmas. Fortune later reported the cuts amounted to roughly 9% of Better's workforce.

The Blind Post

Days later, Garg posted on the anonymous workplace network Blind under the username "uneducated," accusing the people he had just fired of theft. "You guys know that at least 250 of the people terminated were working an average of 2 hours a day while clocking in 8 hours+ a day in the payroll system?" he wrote. "They were stealing from you and stealing from our customers who pay the bills that pay our bills. Get educated." Garg confirmed to Fortune that he was the user behind the account and stood by the comments.

The Leave of Absence

On December 10, the Better board announced Garg was "taking time off effective immediately." A third-party firm was hired to do a leadership and cultural assessment. He was back in the chair on January 18, 2022 - roughly five weeks later - with a letter to staff saying he had spent the time "reflecting on his leadership" and working with an executive coach. Two board members, Raj Date and Dinesh Chopra, resigned.

What Happened to the SPAC

The Aurora SPAC merger, originally pitched at a $7.7 billion valuation, did not close on schedule. The deadline was extended repeatedly through 2022 and into 2023. The SEC opened an enforcement investigation into Better and Aurora in the second quarter of 2022, asking for documents related to the merger disclosures. The deal finally closed in August 2023; the stock collapsed on day one. Garg is still CEO.