Here’s a podcast-friendly summary and breakdown of the article from Fast Company:
🎙️ Summary:
Move over wellness stipends and free snacks—there's a new niche workplace perk in town. Multiply Mortgage, helmed by former DoorDash and Square alum Michael White and cofounder Gautam Gupta, is turning homeownership into a workplace benefit. Launched in 2024, Multiply helps employees secure discounted mortgage rates and expert guidance, all offered at no cost to employers. What started as a company to help tech workers unlock equity blossomed into a service addressing one of the biggest dreams—and stressors—facing employees today: buying a home. As White puts it, “That’s a big reason people seek liquidity,” and Multiply is working to turn that dream into reality, one workplace at a time.
📝 Key Points:
- Multiply Mortgage, a startup founded by Michael White and Gautam Gupta, originally aimed to help tech employees access liquidity from private equity.
- After noticing most of their clients used the funds to purchase homes, they pivoted in 2024 to focus on mortgage services.
- Multiply now partners with employers to offer mortgage support as an employee benefit—providing expert advisors, financial education, and discounted interest rates.
- The service is currently free for employers, with Multiply earning revenue through lender commissions on originated mortgages.
- Employees gain access to trusted mortgage brokers and streamlined home-buying processes in all 50 states.
- The program also includes broader financial wellness education as part of a holistic approach to employees' fiscal health.
- As of now, Multiply is licensed to originate mortgages in 19 states and partners with brokers nationwide.
- “It really led us to dive deeper... and ultimately pivot,” said cofounder Michael White, explaining the evolution from equity-based loans to mortgage solutions.
- Multiply may charge employers in the future, especially as their product offering grows.
🔍 Context and Accuracy:
- The shift toward workplace financial wellness benefits, including housing support, has been growing, especially among younger and remote workers who are priced out of housing markets.
- Multiply’s model resembles other employer-based benefit trends, such as student loan repayment or 401(k) boosts—but is uniquely focused on homeownership.
- Similar emerging companies in this space include Landed and Loftium, but Multiply is one of the few tying the benefit directly into employment partnerships.
Employers take note: if you want to keep talent happy—and housed—then mortgage help might just be your next best HR move. Stay tuned, because the benefits game is changing fast.
Link to Article