Better Home & Finance Holding Company

What does Better Home & Finance own?

The company operates digital mortgage lending, home equity products, title insurance, home insurance, and real estate services, all under the unified Better brand on a single platform.

Is Better Home & Finance publicly traded?

Yes. The company trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker BETR, having gone public in August 2023 through a SPAC merger with Aurora Acquisition Corp.

Who founded Better?

Vishal Garg founded the company in 2016 in New York as Better Mortgage, after his own homebuying experience exposed the inefficiencies of the traditional mortgage process. He remains chairman and CEO.

Where is Better headquartered?

Better is headquartered in New York City, operating a distributed workforce model across the United States rather than a branch network.

Is Better the same as Better Mortgage?

Yes. The company began as Better Mortgage, went public as Better Home & Finance Holding Company, and rebranded in 2024. Better is the unified consumer brand; Better Mortgage refers to its first mortgage product.

Who owns Better?

Better is owned by public shareholders. Founder Vishal Garg is the largest individual shareholder and controlling figure. SoftBank and other institutional investors hold major stakes from its venture rounds.

Why did Better's stock decline?

The stock has traded poorly since the SPAC merger amid rising interest rates that crushed mortgage volume, the company's ongoing losses, and reputational damage from management controversies, reflecting the difficult post-boom environment for all mortgage lenders.

Vishal Garg founded the company in 2016 in New York after his own homebuying process nearly collapsed when a lender lost his paperwork. The insight was that the mortgage process's friction was fixable with software, and he launched Better Mortgage as a commission-free, fully digital lender.

The company grew explosively during the 2020 to 2021 refinancing boom, when it originated tens of billions in loans and briefly became a top-15 U.S. mortgage lender by volume. Venture investors valued it at several billion dollars, and it announced plans to go public via a SPAC merger with Aurora Acquisition Corp, with SoftBank and other investors providing hundreds of millions in PIPE financing.

The SPAC process stretched nearly two years through 2021 and 2022, a period marked by a December 2021 Zoom call in which Garg terminated approximately 900 employees, an event that became a defining public image of the company. The merger finally closed in August 2023, with shares debuting on the Nasdaq under BETR.

The company rebranded as Better Home & Finance Holding Company in 2024 to reflect its expansion beyond first mortgages into home equity, title, and insurance. It has worked to stabilize operations after the pandemic-era boom ended, growing funded loan volume to $4.7 billion in fiscal 2025 while posting revenue of $164.9 million and a net loss of approximately $65 million as it pursued a path toward sustained profitability.

The defining controversy was the December 2021 Zoom layoff in which Garg terminated approximately 900 employees in a single video call and later published disparaging remarks about the departing workers. The episode generated national news coverage and became shorthand for management missteps at the company.

The company also drew scrutiny over delayed SPAC closing, investor lawsuits related to that process, and a reported SEC examination of its disclosures. Post-merger questions have centered on Garg's governance style, executive departures, and whether the company's control structure adequately protects public shareholders, matters the company has defended as it works through the post-SPAC stabilization.