Dan Price

Dan Price
Dan Price photo
Born Michigan
Nationality American
Occupation CEO of Gravity Payments
Known for CEO of Gravity Payments, and for setting a $70,000 minimum wage
Website GravityPayments.com/danprice

Dan Price (born 1984)[1] [2] is an American entrepreneur and business executive. He is the founder and CEO of Gravity Payments, a Seattle-WA based credit card processing company, and was named Entrepreneur Magazine's 2014 Entrepreneur of the Year in 2013.[3]

Price received national recognition in 2015 for announcing that all employees at Gravity Payments would receive a minimum wage of $70,000.[4]

An investigation by Bloomberg Business uncovered the possibility that this wage increase was motivated by an attempt to deprive a minority owner of dividends and allegations of abuse by his ex-wife.[5]

In an article by Inc. magazine a claim was made that Mr. Price "emptied his retirement accounts, and mortgaged his two properties -- including a $1.2 million home with a view of Puget Sound -- and poured the $3 million he raised into Gravity".[6] However, in an article by Geekwire published on Dec. 7, 2015,[7] it was disclosed that no record of a mortgage on either of the properties referenced could be found.

Life and career

Price was born in Michigan, in May 1984. He was one of six children. His family moved to Wisconsin and then rural Nampa, Idaho, when Price was 5.[1][8] He was home schooled until he was in junior high, which he stated attributed to some social awkwardness. To overcome this, he leveraged his familiarity with musical instruments to take up the bass guitar and joined a band in seventh grade. After experiencing some success, the band broke up, and Price channeled his energy into what would become Gravity Payments.

Gravity Payments

Main article: Gravity Payments

Using experience and contacts from having played in a band, and with advice from his father, Ron Price, CEO of a business consultancy based in Nampa, Idaho, he acquired 200 clients by his senior year of high school.[1] He officially launched the company in January 2004, during his first semester at Seattle Pacific University. Price was 19.[1]

$70,000 minimum wage

In 2015, Price made national news by announcing that he planned to raise the salary of every Gravity Payments employee to a minimum of $70,000.[4] He was reportedly inspired by reading an article cowritten by Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton analyzing data from a happiness and well-being study conducted by the Gallup Organization. The analysis showed that emotional well being rises up until about $75,000 in salary.[9]

There was a range of responses to this action, ranging from support to anger.[10] Eventually, two top employees left to protest what they saw as unfairness in the pay scale, and the company lost a few clients, but they are reportedly still growing.[10]

Awards and recognition

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "CEO Dan Price on His Decision to Make Entire Company's Minimum Wage $70K/Year". people.com. 2015-05-11. Retrieved 2015-08-14.
  2. ↑ "Truthdigger of the Week: Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price". truthdig.com. 2015-04-25. Retrieved 2015-08-14.
  3. ↑ "Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price named ‘Entrepreneur of 2014′ by Entrepreneur Magazine". geekwire.com. 2014-12-17. Retrieved 2015-08-14.
  4. 1 2 "One Company’s New Minimum Wage: $70,000 a Year". NY Times. 2015-04-13. Retrieved 2015-01-21.
  5. ↑ "The CEO Paying Everyone $70,000 Salaries Has Something to Hide". Bloomberg Business. 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  6. ↑ "Here's What Really Happened at That Company That Set a $70,000 Minimum Wage". Inc.com. 2015-11-01. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
  7. ↑ "Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price hasn’t actually mortgaged his homes, property records show". Geekwire. 2015-12-07. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
  8. ↑ "Credit him with business savvy". seattlepi.com. 2008-06-22. Retrieved 2015-08-14.
  9. ↑ "High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being". pnas.org. 2010-04-04. Retrieved 2015-08-14.
  10. 1 2 "The $70,000 Minimum Wage Experiment Reveals A Dark Truth". cheatsheet.com. 2015-08-14. Retrieved 2015-08-14.
  11. ↑ http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/2013/05/final-countdown-for-40-under-40.html?page=2
  12. ↑ Cook, John (June 8, 2010). "President Barack Obama honors 26-year-old Seattle entrepreneur". Puget Sound Business Journal.
  13. ↑ Soper, Taylor (May 10, 2013). "Revealed:The winners of the 2013 GeekWire Awards". GeekWire.com.
  14. ↑ Truzzi, Gianni (November 24, 2013). "Meet the Job Creators". Inc. Magazine.
  15. ↑ Truzzi, Gianni (January 24, 2014). "The 2014 Executive Excellence Awards: Dan Price". Seattle Business Magazine.
  16. ↑ "Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price named ‘Entrepreneur of 2014′ by Entrepreneur Magazine". geekwire.com. 2014-12-17. Retrieved 2015-04-21.

External links

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