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☆ Billionaire hedge fund boss Ken Griffin says remote working makes it easier for companies to fire people
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ken Griffin said that remote working was weakening the "social contract" of companies. Major US firms are pushing back against remote working and telling workers to return to the office. AdvertisementKen Griffin has warned that working from home will make it easier for companies to fire people. Griffin also warned that remote working was having a negative impact on corporate culture, pointing to the stories of so-called "Zoom firings" that became notorious during the pandemic. "We have all read about companies that are firing thousands of people on Zoom calls," Griffin said.

Persons: Ken Griffin, —, Griffin, Vishal Garg, Garg, Jane Organizations: Citadel, Bloomberg, Major, Service, Meta, TechCrunch Locations: America

Some mortgage lenders permit a mortgage transfer if you have an assumable mortgage, and if your situation falls into one of the exceptions listed in the due-on-sale clause. How to know if your mortgage is transferableTo determine whether you're able to transfer your mortgage, you'll have to see if you have an assumable mortgage. An assumable mortgage will let a borrower transfer the mortgage to someone else even if they haven't fully paid it off. If you have an adjustable-rate mortgage or a government-backed mortgage (including FHA, VA, and USDA mortgages), you might have an assumable mortgage. Can you transfer your mortgage to someone else FAQsCan you just transfer a mortgage to another person?

Persons: —, Christopher Hurdman, You'll, Hurdman, you'll Organizations: Service, Chevron

☆ SPACs can't be killed
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Chamath Palihapitiya, Founder and CEO of Social Capital, presents during the 2018 Sohn Investment Conference in New York City, U.S., April 23, 2018. Although SPACs raised just $13 billion last year, this week produced a deal that looks like it could have happened during the heyday. From U.S. presidential hopefuls’ forays to a continued SPAC king’s virality, SPACs’ reach is a reminder that they are hard to kill. This week, one of those SPACs bought Better.com, a mortgage lender led by Vishal Garg and backed by SoftBank Group (9984.T). They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Chamath Palihapitiya, Brendan McDermid, SPACs, Vishal Garg, Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, lister Chamath Palihapitiya, Anita Ramaswamy, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Social Capital, Investment, REUTERS, Reuters, SoftBank Group, Securities and Exchange Commission, X, KKR, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S

☆ Shares of Better.com — whose CEO fired 900 workers on a Zoom call — slumped as much as 95% on their first day of trade
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of online mortgage lender Better.com slumped as much as 95% after its Nasdaq debut. They fell so quickly that trading was halted four times in the first 30 minutes. Better.com CEO Vishal Garg brutally laid off 900 employees via a Zoom call in 2021. Shares of the Softbank-backed online mortgage lender — which had merged with blank-check company Aurora Acquisition Corp. — plunged at the opening bell. Better.com's disastrous debut on the Nasdaq followed dramatic turns at the digital mortgage company since December 2021 when CEO Vishal Garg brutally laid off 900 employees on a Zoom call.

Persons: Better.com, Vishal Garg, Insider's Alex Nicoll, Better.com's, Fortune Organizations: Nasdaq, Service, & Finance, Aurora Acquisition Corp, —, Aurora Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ The CEO best known for firing 900 staff on a Zoom call now says he's 'worked really, really hard' to be 'more empathetic' and to treat people with 'kindness'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Better.com CEO Vishal Garg is known for firing hundreds of staff on a Zoom call in 2021. Garg now says he has "worked really, really hard" to be a kinder boss. AdvertisementAdvertisementBetter.com CEO Vishal Garg says he's "worked really, really hard" to be a kinder boss after firing over 900 people on a Zoom call. Garg is best known for laying off hundreds of Better.com staff via a brutal Zoom call in 2021. "I think I was very mission-centric, customer centric, and really, really focused on what it took to drive growth," Garg added.

Persons: Vishal Garg, Garg, he's, I've, TechCrunch, Better.com Organizations: Morning, Nasdaq, Aurora Acquisition Corp

☆ Better.com CEO Vishal Garg on going public: We're disrupting the U.S. housing market
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBetter.com CEO Vishal Garg on going public: We're disrupting the U.S. housing marketVishal Garg, Better.com founder & CEO, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the company going public on the Nasdaq via a SPAC merger with Aurora Acquisition Corp., the mortgage lender's rough road to debut amidst layoffs, losses and SEC probe, the mortgage business at large, and more.

Persons: Vishal Garg Organizations: Nasdaq, Aurora Acquisition Corp, SEC

The Nasdaq logo is displayed at the Nasdaq Market site in Times Square in New York City, U.S., December 3, 2021. U.S. home builder confidence weakened in August, as mortgage rates and stubbornly high housing prices discouraged prospective buyers. Better enjoyed huge growth during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when mortgage rates cratered, notching more than $850 million in revenue in 2020, filings show. When interest rates fall, Better expects huge demand for cash-out refinancings, which it says it will be able to deliver in one day. Earlier this year, Better.com launched a one-day mortgage product, allowing customers to get pre-approved, lock in a rate and get a mortgage commitment letter within 24 hours.

Persons: Vishal Garg, Garg, Better.com, Hannah Lang, Michelle Price, Mark Potter Organizations: Nasdaq, REUTERS, Federal, refinancings, Aurora Acquisition Corp, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Better, Zoom, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, SoftBank, Aurora, Washington

☆ These CEOs offer a master class in how to not read the room
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Just this week, there have been two high-profile face-plants by company leaders who ostensibly wanted to inspire their staffs and wound up doing…the opposite of that. In a statement to CNN, Clearlink declined to address Clarke’s remarks in the video, though the company did not challenge its authenticity. And who could forget Better.com’s CEO laying off 900 people over Zoom? But I’d propose a simple mantra for executives when weighing in on unpopular topics like returning to the office or laying people off. (OK, most nights — we believe in a four-day work week around here.)

☆ Adjustable-rate mortgages are growing in popularity, but they come with some big risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Jason Stauffer | Elizabeth Gravier | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) tend to become more popular as rates rise and borrowers look for ways to save on interest. When mortgage rates hit historic lows in 2021, ARM loans accounted for less than 2% of mortgage applications. Here's how ARM loans work and what you need to pay attention to if you're considering an adjustable-rate mortgage. How ARMs workAn adjustable-rate mortgage comes with a low introductory interest rate for a set period and after the teaser rate expires, the loan's interest rate changes as mortgage rates shift. Qualifications: The low introductory interest rate of ARM loans doesn't make them easier to qualify for.

☆ Amazon Employees Will Be Able to Use Stock as Collateral for Home Loans
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Dana Mattioli | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Amazon historically has given less cash compensation to employees than its big-tech peers, and tried to make up the difference with restricted stock units. Amazon .com Inc. employees will soon be able to use their company shares as collateral when buying homes, under an arrangement with online mortgage lender Better.com. A new Better.com product, Equity Unlocker, will allow employees to pledge stock for loans for down payments, the companies said, rather than having to sell the stock to raise cash.

☆ Amazon is trying to fix employee frustration over plunging pay by letting them pledge stock for home loans in a deal with Better
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon employees, even those who have left, can pledge their stock as collateral for home mortgages. Under the new program, Amazon employees will be able to use their vested stock as collateral in the home-buying process, Better said in a statement on Tuesday. The company's stock price hovered around $93.50 on Tuesday morning — a drop from more than $150 a year ago. The home loan benefit applies to both "current and former Amazon employees with vested equity in Amazon," per Better's statement. Amazon employees have flagged concerns about the company's compensation packages trailing those of its Big Tech peers.

If you're ready to begin your home shopping journey, make sure you get a mortgage pre-approval first. A mortgage pre-approval letter is an essential step in the homebuying process. Below, CNBC Select breaks down how a mortgage pre-approval works and when you want to get one. What is mortgage pre-approval? Bottom lineA mortgage pre-approval can help you gauge how much mortgage you can afford and position yourself as a serious homebuyer.

☆ Too many companies botch mass layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

When it comes to mass layoffs, there seems to be no end to the worst, most bungled ways in which some employees first learn they are being let go. “People have to feel they’re being treated with respect,” said Sarah Rodehorst, CEO of Onwards HR, an offboarding technology platform for human resources, legal and finance teams. (Google declined to comment, pointing instead to a blog post from the CEO on the day of the layoffs.) Employees should receive a communication from the CEO or from division leadership that informs them layoffs will occur and offers them the business reasons for the decision. By “small,” Lee means no more than 5 to 10 people, including a leader or manager they know who delivers the news.

☆ With mortgage rates dropping and fee changes in the pipeline, now may be the time to buy that home
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Jason Stauffer | Benji Stawski | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Is now a good time to lock-in your mortgage rate? As long as the Federal Funds rate stays high, so will mortgage rates. Today's 30-year mortgage rates are currently 0.93% lower than they were last fall, when rates hit 7.08%. The upcoming FHFA fee changes affect conforming conventional loans, which can be sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac by lenders. The future fee changes will add an additional layer of complexity to a process that already causes heads to spin.

☆ In 2022, UWM became the top US mortgage lender and its CEO bought an NBA team. Against the odds, it expects to grow more.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

United Wholesale Mortgage became the country's largest originator in 2022. Mortgage rates soared at their fastest rate in decades, halting refinances and slowing home purchases to a crawl. In a way, UWM's strategy is much more old-fashioned than other mortgage players, including Rocket Mortgage. "The idea that you can go on a computer, click a button, and there's your mortgage, that's foolish," he said. To Rocket Mortgage, that's a fundamental misunderstanding of its business.

Parafin, launched in 2020, works with so-called platform partners, or companies that other small businesses sell their products through. All the cofounders knew was that they wanted to build technology that would help small businesses. And they may not get their first contract payment from the government for as long as 120 days," Reed, the startup's CEO, told Insider. Helping small businesses manage their taxesComplYant's founder Shiloh Jackson wants to help people be present in their bookkeeping. HoneyBookWhile countless small businesses have been harmed by the pandemic, self-employment and entrepreneurship have found ways to blossom as Americans started new ventures.

Pros Check mark icon A check mark. If you're a Bank of America Preferred Rewards customer, you can get discounts Check mark icon A check mark. Pros Check mark icon A check mark. Advanced tool for seeing personalized rates and payments Check mark icon A check mark. Variety of home loans, including a specialized buydown loan or I CAN loan Check mark icon A check mark.

☆ Another tech bubble bursts: 2022 has been brutal for Silicon Valley workers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +28 min

Gem: 100A maker of recruiting software, the startup cut a third of its workforce Nov. 1, The Information reported. HealthCare.com: 149The health insurance marketplace announced the job cuts Aug. 3, Miami Inno reported, citing state regulatory filings. Fabric: 120The robotics startup said July 13 that it was layoffing off 40% of them, TechCrunch reported, citing company confirmation. It affected about 300 people, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported, citing company confirmation. Policygenius: 170The online insurance company cut about 25% of its staff, Axios reported June 6, citing company confirmation.

☆ Why corporate leaders like Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Evan Spiegel are all apologizing for the massive layoffs at their companies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Sarah Belle Lin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Since the pandemic, the largest tech layoffs have been at Meta, Getir, Booking.com, Twitter, Uber, Better.com., Peloton, and Groupon, Layoffs.fyi data show. Now companies in tech are reversing some of the huge hiring that they did in the past couple of years, Lee said. Mark Zuckerberg, MetaFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks about "News Tab" at the Paley Center, in New York on October 25, 2019. In the memo he wrote: "Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration that would continue even after the pandemic ended. Jack Dorsey, ex-CEO TwitterTwitter CEO Jack Dorsey testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in Washington, DC, in 2018.

☆ Meet Michael Klausner, the Stanford law professor who is the biggest critic of the SPAC deal craze — and believes its crash was 'completely predictable'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Many SPAC deals announced last year have been having a hard time closing. Now, the dismal fates of dozens of SPAC deals announced during last year's SPAC frenzy seem to vindicate his analysis. And others this year, like men's grooming brand Manscaped, SeatGeek, the live event ticket search engine, and business news outlet, Forbes, have all scrapped their SPAC deals to go public. Klausner has been paying attention to SPAC deals for a few years. Of the 275 deals announced in 2021, 240 have closed, according to Dealogic data.

☆ SPACs are running out of time to close dozens of deals with startups that hoped to go public. Here's why they're being delayed and may not get done.
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-22 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

SPAC mergers announced last year have yet to close and are up against the clock. In 2021 alone, they raised nearly $163 billion, and 275 merger deals were announced, according to data from Dealogic. Several SPAC mergers are now in limbo, among them embattled mortgage startup Better.com, fintech company Aspiration, and crypto startup Bullish, which all announced their SPAC mergers more than a year ago. Those price tags are no longer reliable as they've become outdated, adding an extra challenge to securing financing to close deals during a downturn, experts said. Deadlines to close SPAC mergers can vary depending on the lifespan of the blank-check company in question, but typically range from a year to two years.

☆ HR pros conducting layoffs need to take these 4 steps to ensure job cuts don't go from difficult to disastrous
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-09 | by ( Ebony Flake | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Insider spoke with experts who constructed a tool kit for HR to facilitate layoffs the right way. But there is a better way — and a worse way — to tell workers you're laying them off. To help get it right, Insider pulled together a tool kit for HR professionals who carry the weight of conducting layoffs. Human resources professionals are responsible for managing layoffs under these difficult conditions and making sure they're done right. To avoid making cuts that can appear targeted, HR staff should review layoff rosters with the company's legal department.

Persons: That's, it's, Isabelle Kenyon, Slack, Kenyon, We're, Weeks, Vishal Garg, Rudhir Krishtel, Rudhir, Tara Hines, McCoy, Hines, doesn't, Mark Zuckerberg, Krishtel, what's Organizations: Apple, McCoy, Employers, Meta, Facebook, Employees, Netflix

Below, Select takes a closer look at four of the best mortgage lenders that don't charge origination fees (see our methodology below). Ally Bank doesn't charge application fees, origination fees, processing fees or underwriting fees — the lender may, however, charge appraisal fees and recording fees, as well as for title searches and insurance. PenFed offers a variety of mortgages with no lender fees, including no origination fees, though other types of fees may apply. Fees: Common fees associated with mortgage applications include origination fees, application fees, underwriting fees, processing fees and administrative fees. Common fees associated with mortgage applications include origination fees, application fees, underwriting fees, processing fees and administrative fees.

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