Gravity Payments Ceo Dan Price Resigns Amid Assault Allegations

Comment The Seattle CEO who gained national attention for setting a $70,000 minimum wage for all his employees — and cutting his own to match — has resigned from the company he founded in college amid abuse allegations. Dan Price said Wednesday that he is leaving Gravity Payments, a credit card processing company, to devote more time to “fighting false claims.” Earlier this year, he was accused of trying to kiss a woman against her will, the Seattle Times reported. “My No. 1 priority is for our employees to work for the best company in the world, but my presence has been a distraction here,” he wrote in an email to staff that was also shared on Twitter Wednesday night. “I also have to step down from these duties to focus full-time on fighting the false accusations against me,” adding, “I’m not going anywhere.” Price did not elaborate on the allegations or immediately respond to a request for comment. Gravity Payments did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A frequent critic of corporate executives and the huge pay gap between them and their workers, Price rose to prominence in 2015 after announcing he would raise every employee’s salary to at least $70,000. At the time, its 120 employees were paid an average salary of $48,000 a year, according to the Times. He also cut his own compensation by $1 million at that level, taking more than a 90 percent pay cut, and used about three-quarters of that year’s earnings to cover higher wages, the report added. Price said he will keep his salary low until profits are returned. On Twitter, Price touted the success of his company’s model and the benefits provided to employees. The minimum wage for workers is now $80,000, he said, and staff received a base raise of $10,000 this year. The jobs typically attract more than 300 applicants, he said. The original salary cap was set the same year Price won a court battle against his brother, Lucas Price. A three-week legal battle ensued after his older brother, Lucas Price, claimed his rights as a minority shareholder were violated when Dan Price raised his salary. A King County Superior Court judge disagreed and ordered Lucas Price to pay his brother’s legal fees totaling $1.3 million. Price was 19 when he started Gravity Payments in 2004 out of his dorm room at Seattle Pacific University, using money from Lucas Price, according to the Times. Now 38, Price’s public persona revolves around defending the average worker and criticizing big business. He wrote a 2020 book titled It’s Worth It: How a Million-Dollar Wage Cut and a $70,000 Minimum Wage Revealed a Better Way of Doing Business. That same year, he wrote an insightful piece for the Washington Post defending his company’s treatment of workers as a model that allowed staff to decide how to deal with economic shocks in the early months of the pandemic. He also wrote that 98 percent of Gravity Payments workers volunteered to temporarily reduce their wages by 5 to 100 percent to avoid layoffs. On Wednesday, Price said the company has never laid off a single worker in its 18-year history. The company’s CEO, Tammi Kroll, has taken over as CEO, Price said in the announcement.

title: “Gravity Payments Ceo Dan Price Resigns Amid Assault Allegations Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-16” author: “Kelly Anderson”

Comment The Seattle CEO who gained national attention for setting a $70,000 minimum wage for all his employees — and cutting his own to match — has resigned from the company he founded in college amid abuse allegations. Dan Price said Wednesday that he is leaving Gravity Payments, a credit card processing company, to devote more time to “fighting false claims.” Earlier this year, he was accused of trying to kiss a woman against her will, the Seattle Times reported. “My No. 1 priority is for our employees to work for the best company in the world, but my presence has been a distraction here,” he wrote in an email to staff that was also shared on Twitter Wednesday night. “I also have to step down from these duties to focus full-time on fighting the false accusations against me,” adding, “I’m not going anywhere.” Price did not elaborate on the allegations or immediately respond to a request for comment. Gravity Payments did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A frequent critic of corporate executives and the huge pay gap between them and their workers, Price rose to prominence in 2015 after announcing he would raise every employee’s salary to at least $70,000. At the time, its 120 employees were paid an average salary of $48,000 a year, according to the Times. He also cut his own compensation by $1 million at that level, taking more than a 90 percent pay cut, and used about three-quarters of that year’s earnings to cover higher wages, the report added. Price said he will keep his salary low until profits are returned. On Twitter, Price touted the success of his company’s model and the benefits provided to employees. The minimum wage for workers is now $80,000, he said, and staff received a base raise of $10,000 this year. The jobs typically attract more than 300 applicants, he said. The original salary cap was set the same year Price won a court battle against his brother, Lucas Price. A three-week legal battle ensued after his older brother, Lucas Price, claimed his rights as a minority shareholder were violated when Dan Price raised his salary. A King County Superior Court judge disagreed and ordered Lucas Price to pay his brother’s legal fees totaling $1.3 million. Price was 19 when he started Gravity Payments in 2004 out of his dorm room at Seattle Pacific University, using money from Lucas Price, according to the Times. Now 38, Price’s public persona revolves around defending the average worker and criticizing big business. He wrote a 2020 book titled It’s Worth It: How a Million-Dollar Wage Cut and a $70,000 Minimum Wage Revealed a Better Way of Doing Business. That same year, he wrote an insightful piece for the Washington Post defending his company’s treatment of workers as a model that allowed staff to decide how to deal with economic shocks in the early months of the pandemic. He also wrote that 98 percent of Gravity Payments workers volunteered to temporarily reduce their wages by 5 to 100 percent to avoid layoffs. On Wednesday, Price said the company has never laid off a single worker in its 18-year history. The company’s CEO, Tammi Kroll, has taken over as CEO, Price said in the announcement.

title: “Gravity Payments Ceo Dan Price Resigns Amid Assault Allegations Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-07” author: “Violet Davison”

Comment The Seattle CEO who gained national attention for setting a $70,000 minimum wage for all his employees — and cutting his own to match — has resigned from the company he founded in college amid abuse allegations. Dan Price said Wednesday that he is leaving Gravity Payments, a credit card processing company, to devote more time to “fighting false claims.” Earlier this year, he was accused of trying to kiss a woman against her will, the Seattle Times reported. “My No. 1 priority is for our employees to work for the best company in the world, but my presence has been a distraction here,” he wrote in an email to staff that was also shared on Twitter Wednesday night. “I also have to step down from these duties to focus full-time on fighting the false accusations against me,” adding, “I’m not going anywhere.” Price did not elaborate on the allegations or immediately respond to a request for comment. Gravity Payments did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A frequent critic of corporate executives and the huge pay gap between them and their workers, Price rose to prominence in 2015 after announcing he would raise every employee’s salary to at least $70,000. At the time, its 120 employees were paid an average salary of $48,000 a year, according to the Times. He also cut his own compensation by $1 million at that level, taking more than a 90 percent pay cut, and used about three-quarters of that year’s earnings to cover higher wages, the report added. Price said he will keep his salary low until profits are returned. On Twitter, Price touted the success of his company’s model and the benefits provided to employees. The minimum wage for workers is now $80,000, he said, and staff received a base raise of $10,000 this year. The jobs typically attract more than 300 applicants, he said. The original salary cap was set the same year Price won a court battle against his brother, Lucas Price. A three-week legal battle ensued after his older brother, Lucas Price, claimed his rights as a minority shareholder were violated when Dan Price raised his salary. A King County Superior Court judge disagreed and ordered Lucas Price to pay his brother’s legal fees totaling $1.3 million. Price was 19 when he started Gravity Payments in 2004 out of his dorm room at Seattle Pacific University, using money from Lucas Price, according to the Times. Now 38, Price’s public persona revolves around defending the average worker and criticizing big business. He wrote a 2020 book titled It’s Worth It: How a Million-Dollar Wage Cut and a $70,000 Minimum Wage Revealed a Better Way of Doing Business. That same year, he wrote an insightful piece for the Washington Post defending his company’s treatment of workers as a model that allowed staff to decide how to deal with economic shocks in the early months of the pandemic. He also wrote that 98 percent of Gravity Payments workers volunteered to temporarily reduce their wages by 5 to 100 percent to avoid layoffs. On Wednesday, Price said the company has never laid off a single worker in its 18-year history. The company’s CEO, Tammi Kroll, has taken over as CEO, Price said in the announcement.

title: “Gravity Payments Ceo Dan Price Resigns Amid Assault Allegations Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-29” author: “Justin Roney”

Comment The Seattle CEO who gained national attention for setting a $70,000 minimum wage for all his employees — and cutting his own to match — has resigned from the company he founded in college amid abuse allegations. Dan Price said Wednesday that he is leaving Gravity Payments, a credit card processing company, to devote more time to “fighting false claims.” Earlier this year, he was accused of trying to kiss a woman against her will, the Seattle Times reported. “My No. 1 priority is for our employees to work for the best company in the world, but my presence has been a distraction here,” he wrote in an email to staff that was also shared on Twitter Wednesday night. “I also have to step down from these duties to focus full-time on fighting the false accusations against me,” adding, “I’m not going anywhere.” Price did not elaborate on the allegations or immediately respond to a request for comment. Gravity Payments did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A frequent critic of corporate executives and the huge pay gap between them and their workers, Price rose to prominence in 2015 after announcing he would raise every employee’s salary to at least $70,000. At the time, its 120 employees were paid an average salary of $48,000 a year, according to the Times. He also cut his own compensation by $1 million at that level, taking more than a 90 percent pay cut, and used about three-quarters of that year’s earnings to cover higher wages, the report added. Price said he will keep his salary low until profits are returned. On Twitter, Price touted the success of his company’s model and the benefits provided to employees. The minimum wage for workers is now $80,000, he said, and staff received a base raise of $10,000 this year. The jobs typically attract more than 300 applicants, he said. The original salary cap was set the same year Price won a court battle against his brother, Lucas Price. A three-week legal battle ensued after his older brother, Lucas Price, claimed his rights as a minority shareholder were violated when Dan Price raised his salary. A King County Superior Court judge disagreed and ordered Lucas Price to pay his brother’s legal fees totaling $1.3 million. Price was 19 when he started Gravity Payments in 2004 out of his dorm room at Seattle Pacific University, using money from Lucas Price, according to the Times. Now 38, Price’s public persona revolves around defending the average worker and criticizing big business. He wrote a 2020 book titled It’s Worth It: How a Million-Dollar Wage Cut and a $70,000 Minimum Wage Revealed a Better Way of Doing Business. That same year, he wrote an insightful piece for the Washington Post defending his company’s treatment of workers as a model that allowed staff to decide how to deal with economic shocks in the early months of the pandemic. He also wrote that 98 percent of Gravity Payments workers volunteered to temporarily reduce their wages by 5 to 100 percent to avoid layoffs. On Wednesday, Price said the company has never laid off a single worker in its 18-year history. The company’s CEO, Tammi Kroll, has taken over as CEO, Price said in the announcement.

title: “Gravity Payments Ceo Dan Price Resigns Amid Assault Allegations Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-23” author: “Brian Vanscooter”

Comment The Seattle CEO who gained national attention for setting a $70,000 minimum wage for all his employees — and cutting his own to match — has resigned from the company he founded in college amid abuse allegations. Dan Price said Wednesday that he is leaving Gravity Payments, a credit card processing company, to devote more time to “fighting false claims.” Earlier this year, he was accused of trying to kiss a woman against her will, the Seattle Times reported. “My No. 1 priority is for our employees to work for the best company in the world, but my presence has been a distraction here,” he wrote in an email to staff that was also shared on Twitter Wednesday night. “I also have to step down from these duties to focus full-time on fighting the false accusations against me,” adding, “I’m not going anywhere.” Price did not elaborate on the allegations or immediately respond to a request for comment. Gravity Payments did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A frequent critic of corporate executives and the huge pay gap between them and their workers, Price rose to prominence in 2015 after announcing he would raise every employee’s salary to at least $70,000. At the time, its 120 employees were paid an average salary of $48,000 a year, according to the Times. He also cut his own compensation by $1 million at that level, taking more than a 90 percent pay cut, and used about three-quarters of that year’s earnings to cover higher wages, the report added. Price said he will keep his salary low until profits are returned. On Twitter, Price touted the success of his company’s model and the benefits provided to employees. The minimum wage for workers is now $80,000, he said, and staff received a base raise of $10,000 this year. The jobs typically attract more than 300 applicants, he said. The original salary cap was set the same year Price won a court battle against his brother, Lucas Price. A three-week legal battle ensued after his older brother, Lucas Price, claimed his rights as a minority shareholder were violated when Dan Price raised his salary. A King County Superior Court judge disagreed and ordered Lucas Price to pay his brother’s legal fees totaling $1.3 million. Price was 19 when he started Gravity Payments in 2004 out of his dorm room at Seattle Pacific University, using money from Lucas Price, according to the Times. Now 38, Price’s public persona revolves around defending the average worker and criticizing big business. He wrote a 2020 book titled It’s Worth It: How a Million-Dollar Wage Cut and a $70,000 Minimum Wage Revealed a Better Way of Doing Business. That same year, he wrote an insightful piece for the Washington Post defending his company’s treatment of workers as a model that allowed staff to decide how to deal with economic shocks in the early months of the pandemic. He also wrote that 98 percent of Gravity Payments workers volunteered to temporarily reduce their wages by 5 to 100 percent to avoid layoffs. On Wednesday, Price said the company has never laid off a single worker in its 18-year history. The company’s CEO, Tammi Kroll, has taken over as CEO, Price said in the announcement.