Vishal Garg's second majority claim at Better: what the inspector confirmed and how BETR traded

Better Home & Finance (Nasdaq: BETR) rose 6.61% in ten minutes on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, after founder and former chief executive Vishal Garg's group said at 9:56 a.m. ET that it held written consents from more than 51% of Better's voting shares, enough to remove five directors including interim chief executive Daniel Lewis. The stock went from 10.74 to 10.95 in the first minute and reached 11.45 ten minutes after the headline. Two days later the independent election inspector, First Coast Results, gave a preliminary verification that the votes to remove the five directors exceeded 52%, a count still subject to review by the company.

Garg's second claim of a majority

The board removed Garg as chief executive on August 3 and named Lewis interim CEO, citing more than $1.5 billion of cumulative GAAP net losses since 2022 and a share price decline of more than 90% during Garg's tenure. Garg answered in August by saying he had already secured 52% of the company's voting power. His amended Schedule 13D filing then acknowledged that the consents he had gathered fell short of the threshold, and Better sued him in federal court in Manhattan under Sections 13(d) and 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act. The September 30 announcement was therefore his second majority claim, and the inspector's preliminary count on October 2 is what separated it from the first.

The fight, step by step

1. August 3, 2026: the board removes Garg as CEO; Daniel Lewis becomes interim chief executive.
2. August 2026: Garg says he holds 52% of the voting power, then concedes in an amended 13D that his consents fell short; Better sues him.
3. September 3, 2026: Garg publishes a 90-day plan targeting $2 billion of quarterly loan volume and a $30 million share repurchase. BETR was 0.92% lower one minute later and 0.15% lower after 15 minutes.
4. September 8, 2026: Better announces that the proxy adviser ISS recommends shareholders reject Garg's campaign. BETR was unchanged after one minute and 0.80% lower after 15 minutes.
5. September 16, 2026: Glass Lewis also recommends shareholders oppose the campaign.
6. September 21, 2026: the Garg Group says holders of more than 46% of the voting power have supported its consent solicitation.
7. September 30, 2026, 9:56 a.m. ET: the group says it holds written consents from more than 51% of the voting shares. BETR rises 1.96% in one minute and 6.61% in ten.
8. October 2, 2026, 12:33 p.m. ET: the group says First Coast Results has given a preliminary verification that its votes exceed 52%.

What the stock priced, and what it did not

BETR barely moved on Garg's plan or on the ISS recommendation, and drifted lower as the campaign went on: it stood at 13.83 before the ISS headline on September 8 and at 10.74 before the majority claim on September 30, 22.34% lower. Of the steps we measured, the September 30 claim was the only one that moved the stock by more than one percent within minutes.

Under the group's plan, removing the five directors would make Garg head of product, platform and innovation while the company searches for a new CEO, and venture investors Bing Gordon and Steve Sarracino would join the board. The five directors named for removal are Lewis, Harit Talwar, Arnaud Massenet, Bhaskar Menon and Prabhu Narasimhan. Better, which reported a $30.6 million net loss for the second quarter, declined to comment on September 30.