Gravity Payments

Gravity Payments
Private
Founded Seattle, Washington
Headquarters 1455 NW Leary Way,
Ste 200,
Seattle, Washington
USA
Key people
 Dan Price, Co-Founder and CEO
Products Credit card processing
Number of employees
 100-200
Website www.gravitypayments.com

Gravity Payments is a credit-card processing and financial services company. The company was founded in February, 2004 by brothers Lucas and Dan Price when Dan was in college. The company is headquartered in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, Washington and employs over 100 people.

The company received national recognition in 2015 when CEO Dan Price announced that all employees would receive a minimum wage of $70,000.[1]

History

Gravity Payments was co-founded in February 2004 by Lucas and Dan Price. Dan began working out of his Seattle Pacific University dorm room. Dan Price was 19 at the time. He had previously managed the finances of his high school rock band, Straightforword (misspelling intentional).[2]

By June 2008 the company was the largest credit card processor in Washington, serving over 15,000 clients country-wide.[3]

In June, 2010 Dan Price was honored by President Barack Obama with the Small Business Administration's "National Young Entrepreneur of the Year" Award for his entrepreneurship and the sustained success of the company.[4]

In 2013 the company increased employee pay by 2% in response to the two-percent payroll tax reduction lapse, which applied to all those earning less than $100,000.[5] The company also claims to provide unlimited paid time off to employees.[6]

In April 2015, Dan Price announced that over the next three years, the company would raise the pay of all employees to at least $70,000 per year, stating this was the minimum needed to secure them from financial hardship when hit by unexpected expenses. Price, who previously paid himself a $1 million yearly salary, cut his own salary down to $70,000 to partially cover the increased pay for employees.[1][7] The change lost the company two long-standing employees due to the flat payment structure.[7][8] As of October 2015 Dan Price is being sued by his brother and co-founder Lucas Price, citing long-standing differences.[9][10]

Awards and recognition

References

  1. 1 2 "One Company’s New Minimum Wage: $70,000 a Year". NY Times. 2015-04-13. Retrieved 2015-01-21.
  2. ↑ Burton, Lynsi (June 22, 2008). "Credit him with business savvy". Seattle PI.
  3. ↑ Burto, Lynsi (2008-06-22). "Credit him with business savvy". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
  4. ↑ Cook, John (June 8, 2008). "President Barack Obama honors 26-year-old Seattle entrepreneur". Puget Sound Business Journal.
  5. ↑ Grunbaum, Rani (January 5, 2013). "Seattle company gives 2% raises to make up for pay tax". Seattle Times.
  6. ↑ Volastro, Anthony (February 17, 2004). "Unlimited paid vacation: Too good to be true?". CNBC.
  7. 1 2 Cohen, Patrica (2015-07-31). "A Company Copes With Backlash Against the Raise That Roared". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
  8. ↑ Millward, David (2015-08-02). "CEO counting cost of £45,000 minimum wage decision". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
  9. ↑ Parkhurst, Emily (2015-07-21). "Brother sues Dan Price, Gravity Payments CEO, after he enacts $70,000 minimum wage policy". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
  10. ↑ Axelrod, Jason (2015-07-20). "Gravity Payments CEO, who set $70K minimum pay, sued by brother". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
  11. ↑ "HomeStreet Bank Announces 2008 Small Business Spotlight Award Winners" (Press release). Marketwired. 2008-07-31. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
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