Summary · why it matters
Better Home & Finance Holding Co. ousted founder and CEO Vishal Garg in early August in a move led by interim replacement Daniel Lewis, an Orange Capital managing partner, and the company implemented a poison pill on Aug. 20 that could prevent Mr. Garg from naming his own slate of directors. Mr. Garg instead launched a consent solicitation running through Oct. 2 asking shareholders to replace five directors, including Mr. Lewis, and even before he named board nominees the effort had over 45% of shareholder support, just shy of the 50% threshold needed to win, according to a person familiar with the matter. Governance expert Charles Elson said that level of support should compel the company to negotiate and called the poison pill an entrenchment device, while shares have fallen 55% since Mr. Garg's ouster. In a surprise announcement Thursday, Mr. Garg named three potential director candidates: Silicon Valley heavyweight and former Amazon director William "Bing" Gordon, David Heidecorn, a senior advisor and former partner at L Catterton, and Steve Sarracino, founder and partner at Activant Capital. Mr. Garg does not plan to seek a return to the CEO seat, instead taking a focused innovation role and hiring Daversa Partners to find a permanent CEO within 120 days.
Better Home & Finance Holding Company
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