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Dan Price

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Dan Price
Price in 2021
Born (1984-05-13) May 13, 1984 (age 40)
Lansing, Michigan, United States
Spouse
Kristie Colón (née Lewellyn)
​
​
(m. 2005; div. 2012)​

Daniel Joseph Price (born May 13, 1984) is an American entrepreneur and social media personality. He is the co-founder and the former chief executive officer of credit card processing company Gravity Payments. As of November 2021, he is the sole shareholder and board member of the company.[1] He gained recognition in 2015 after he raised the minimum salary for employees of his company to $70,000 and lowered his own wage to $70,000 from $1.1 million.[2] Price has been active on social media, especially Twitter, where his posts have been widely shared.

Price has been accused of several physical and sexual assaults between 2013 and 2022. After pleading not guilty in May 2022 to misdemeanor charges of assault and reckless driving, he resigned as CEO of Gravity Payments on August 17, 2022.[3]

Early life and education

Daniel Joseph Price was born on May 13, 1984,[4] in Lansing, Michigan.[5] His father is Ron Price.[5] He is the fourth of six children.[6] When he was young, his family moved to Nampa, Idaho, where he was homeschooled until the age of 12.[7] He attended and graduated from Nampa Christian High, a private school.[8][9] While in high school, he joined a Christian punk rock band called Straightforword, playing bass guitar. After the owner of one venue where the band performed complained of high credit card processing fees, Price said he was able to negotiate the fees down for the owner. He then focused on launching a credit card processing business instead of pursuing music.[7]

Price relocated to Seattle, Washington to attend Seattle Pacific University (SPU), a private Christian university. He graduated from SPU in 2008.[10]

Career

In 2004, while a student at Seattle Pacific University, Price started Gravity Payments along with his older brother, Lucas Price,[11][12] who had provided the seed money for the venture.[1]

In 2010, Price was honored as the National SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year and was invited to the White House to meet President Barack Obama.[13] He won GeekWire's Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2013.[14] Entrepreneur magazine named him Entrepreneur of 2014.[15]

On April 13, 2015, with reporters from The New York Times and NBC News in attendance, Price told Gravity Payments staff that he was raising his company's minimum salary to $70,000 and reducing his own compensation from $1.1 million to $70,000.[16][17] He extended the same minimum wage to all employees of ChargeItPro, a company Gravity Payments acquired in 2019.[18] Price cited "High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being," a 2010 paper by Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton of Princeton University, as motivation for his choice of the $70,000 minimum.[6]

On April 24, 2015, a lawsuit was filed against Dan Price by his brother Lucas.[19] The lawsuit claimed that Dan Price was overpaying himself and depriving shareholders of profits.[19] Dan Price admitted that some of the statements he made about Gravity Payments since raising the minimum wage were not true.[20][21] In July 2016, King County Superior Court Judge Theresa B. Doyle ruled in favor of Dan Price on all counts.[22]

After the pay raise announcement, Price became a celebrity, making numerous television and magazine cover appearances, and reportedly earning at least $10,000 per public speaking appearance. Esquire magazine named him as one of its 2015 breakouts, calling him "a folk hero for the age of inequality."[23] Most Gravity Payments employees contributed to buy Price a Tesla car, his "dream car," as a show of gratitude.[24] The company's former head of marketing said that Price himself had the Tesla gift idea; Price denies this.[1] Bernie Sanders appeared with Price on MSNBC and later tweeted, "At a time of massive wealth and income inequality in our country, Mr. Price set an example others should learn from."[25] Robert Reich, the former United States Secretary of Labor, called Price "the one moral CEO in America" in a speech about the immorality of capitalism.[26] An Upworthy article in November 2021 began, "Dan Price is the go-to example for business done right."[27] The salary move also triggered a backlash, including from Rush Limbaugh and from some Gravity Payments clients who accused Price of communist or socialist motives. Two Gravity Payments employees resigned in protest.[28]

Price told Inc. in an interview for a November 2015 cover story that he sold all his stocks, emptied his retirement accounts, and mortgaged two properties he owned, obtaining $3 million, which he put into Gravity Payments.[29] "I wanted a larger margin for error," Price told CNN, explaining that the additional funding was related to his promised minimum wage increase.[30] Property records searches showed that Price had not mortgaged his homes at that time, and he acknowledged this in a February 2016 court filing. Price later mortgaged one of his properties in March 2016.[31] Price told The New York Times in July 2015, "I'm renting out my house right now to make ends meet for myself."[28] In August 2016, he told the Today show that he only rents his home during the summer and that his decision was not made solely out of financial necessity.[21]

In March 2020, Price said that the pay raise has worked well for his company in particular, but hesitated to call it a full success because income inequality in the broader world has continued to grow.[32]

In 2015, Price accepted a $500,000 book deal to be published via Viking Press. He planned to write about the establishment of Gravity Payments and about socially conscious business.[16] Price lost the book deal, and his representation by the talent agency WME, after a Bloomberg Businessweek article in December 2015 reported that his ex-wife had accused him of domestic violence.[1] His first book, Worth It, was self-published in April 2020.[33]

Price resigned as Gravity Payments CEO on August 17, 2022, telling employees that he needs to step aside from his CEO role to "focus full time on fighting false accusations made against me." Tammi Kroll, Gravity Payments' chief operating officer, replaced Price as CEO.[34][3]

Social media

Price makes frequent use of social media to post liberal-leaning critiques about socioeconomic issues. Some of his posts have been shared widely as Internet memes. Most of his posts were ghostwritten by Mike Rosenberg, a former reporter for The Seattle Times.[1]

In September 2020, Price tweeted, "52% of young adults now live with their parents, the highest rate ever, surpassing even the Great Depression. The most educated (and most in debt) generation in history did everything they were supposed to and got this. The system. Does. Not. Work." The post went viral a year later; one instance of it was shared over 15,000 times. USA Today fact-checked the tweet and found it to be accurate as of its original posting date, although out of context; the COVID-19 pandemic was responsible for the sudden spike in this figure.[35] One of Price's tweets, about Dick's Drive-In's high wages and low prices, was shared over 70,000 times.[36] Facebook flagged one of Price's tweets in March 2022, a screen shot of which had gone viral on its platform, as part of its efforts to combat misinformation. PolitiFact wrote that Price's tweet, about a rise in oil company profits during the 2021–2022 global energy crisis, was "mostly true," stating that "while it was correct in its assertion that oil companies have recorded record profits, it ignored that those gains followed pandemic-era losses."[37]

In July 2021, Price posted on LinkedIn in favor of work from home, saying that introverts benefit from it, garnering nearly 28,000 reactions and more than 1,000 comments in response.[38]

Price accused Twitter of "shadow muting" his account in June 2021, noting an over 90% decrease in tweet impressions and profile views, month over month.[39]

Personal life

Price resides in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, Washington.[31][6] He was married to Kristie Colón (née Lewellyn)[6] from 2005 until their divorce in 2012.[12][28][40][41] The Netline reported that the couple married "after Dan's Christian parents demanded that they marry or end their relationship."[7]

Arrests and alleged physical and sexual assaults

In 2013, Price entered an Irish pub in Seattle, sat at a table of people he did not know, and was asked to leave. After the bar's manager escorted him out, Price assaulted the manager.[41] Price was arrested and charged. The charges were later dismissed.[25]

In October 2015, Price's ex-wife Kristie Colón recorded a TEDx talk at the University of Kentucky in which she alleged that Price threw, punched, slapped, body-slammed and waterboarded her while they were married. Price's representatives notified the university that they considered Colón's remarks to be defamatory. The university later deleted its video footage of Colón's talk, which it had been planning to publish in December, and deleted information about her from the TEDx event's web site.[41] Price denied her claims of abuse, said the events Colón described never happened, and said that his wife never filed a police report.[42] Price's father denied Colón's accusations in an interview with the Idaho Statesman in December 2015.[43] In January 2016, Colón published a blog post standing by her accusations.[44]

The Palm Springs Police Department investigated Price for "felony rape of a drugged victim" charges related to an April 2021 incident at a Palm Springs hotel.[45] On August 15, 2022, Palm Springs Police told The New York Times that they had referred the case to local prosecutors.[1]

In February 2022, Price was charged with misdemeanor assault, misdemeanor assault with sexual motivation, and reckless driving after a 26-year-old woman accused Price of forcibly attempting to kiss her. The woman also told police that Price was driving while intoxicated. Price's attorney issued a statement denying the woman's claims.[46][26] The assault with sexual motivation charge was later dropped;[47] Price pleaded not guilty to the other two charges on May 31.[48]

Bibliography

  • Price, Dan. Worth It: How a Million-Dollar Pay Cut and a $70,000 Minimum Wage Revealed a Better Way of Doing Business (2020) ISBN 978-1734157215

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Weise, Karen (August 18, 2022). "Social Media Was a C.E.O.'s Bullhorn, and How He Lured Women". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  2. ^ "CEO on why giving all employees minimum salary of $70,000 still "works" six years later: "Our turnover rate was cut in half"". CBS News. Archived from the original on 2021-10-30. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
  3. ^ a b Soper, Taylor (August 17, 2022). "'$70,000 CEO' Dan Price resigns as chief of Gravity Payments after assault allegations". GeekWire. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  4. ^ Price, Dan (2020-05-13), "I'm 36 today. Thank you for all the birthday wishes!", Twitter, archived from the original on 2021-06-02, retrieved 2021-06-01
  5. ^ a b Martinez, Shandra (April 16, 2015). "Seattle CEO whose $70K salary pledge caused Internet stir has Michigan ties". MLive. Archived from the original on April 25, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d Weise, Karen (2015-12-01). "The CEO Paying Everyone $70,000 Salaries Has Something to Hide". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 2019-10-11. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  7. ^ a b c Karomo, Chege (April 15, 2021). "Who is Dan Price? – The Entrepreneur's Profitable Selflessness and Ex-Wife's Abuse Allegations Detailed". The Netline. Archived from the original on January 30, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  8. ^ Corr, Justin (April 15, 2015). "Father of headline-making CEO: 'I don't know what's next'". KTVB. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  9. ^ "Nampa Christian High grad slashes pay to help workers". KTVB. April 15, 2015. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  10. ^ Kelly, Clint (2010). "Gravity on the Rise". spu.edu. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  11. ^ Keegan, Paul (2015-11-11). "A Day in the Life of Dan Price, the $70,000 Minimum Wage CEO". Inc.com. Archived from the original on 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  12. ^ a b Cohen, Patricia (2015-04-13). "One Company's New Minimum Wage: $70,000 a Year". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2015-04-14. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  13. ^ Cook, John (June 8, 2010). "President Barack Obama honors 26-year-old Seattle entrepreneur". Puget Sound Business Journal. Archived from the original on October 18, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  14. ^ Soper, Taylor (May 10, 2013). "Revealed: The winners of the 2013 GeekWire Awards". GeekWire. Archived from the original on April 23, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  15. ^ Hanley Frank, Blair (December 18, 2014). "Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price named 'Entrepreneur of 2014' by Entrepreneur Magazine". GeekWire. Archived from the original on February 2, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  16. ^ a b Lagorio-Chafkin, Christine (2015-10-27). "Gravity Payments' $70,000 Founder Scores $500,000-Plus Book Deal". Inc.com. Archived from the original on 2020-11-28. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  17. ^ Mason, Anthony (2015-04-14). "CEO to employees: $70,000 is our new minimum wage". CBS News. Archived from the original on 2020-02-21. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  18. ^ Lewis, Sophie (2019-09-25). "CEO stuns employees by giving them each a $10,000 raise". CBS News. Archived from the original on 2019-09-26. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  19. ^ a b "Gravity Payments CEO, who set $70K minimum pay, sued by brother". The Seattle Times. 2015-07-20. Archived from the original on 2020-01-30. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  20. ^ Stewart, Ashley (2016-06-01). "'A troubling story of ego:' Gravity Payments' CEO Dan Price takes the stand in lawsuit against brother". Seattle Business Journal. Archived from the original on 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  21. ^ a b Evon, Dan (2017-01-09). "FACT CHECK: Did Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price Have to Rent His House to Make Ends Meet?". Snopes.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-05. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  22. ^ "Dan Price, the '$70k CEO,' prevails in lawsuit filed by his brother and Gravity Payments co-owner". GeekWire. 2016-07-09. Archived from the original on 2020-03-16. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  23. ^ Zarinsky, Natasha (November 27, 2015). "Dan Price Offered His Employees $70K, Was Raked Over the Coals". Esquire. No. December 2015/January 2016. Archived from the original on April 23, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  24. ^ "Gravity Payments team gets CEO Dan Price a gift: a Tesla". The Seattle Times. 2016-07-14. Archived from the original on 2022-04-24. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  25. ^ a b Rodrick, Stephen (August 3, 2016). "Is Seattle Startup CEO Dan Price a Sinner or a Savior?". Esquire. Archived from the original on April 23, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  26. ^ a b Green, Sara Jean; Rosenblatt, Lauren (April 20, 2022). "Seattle CEO, big-business antagonist Dan Price accused of assaulting woman". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on April 22, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  27. ^ Wake, Heather (November 30, 2021). "Dan Price is marking Giving Tuesday by putting donation money into the hands of his employees". Upworthy. Archived from the original on June 29, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  28. ^ a b c Cohen, Patricia (2015-07-31). "A Company Copes With Backlash Against the Raise That Roared". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2015-08-07. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  29. ^ Keegan, Paul (October 21, 2015). "Here's What Really Happened at That Company That Set a $70,000 Minimum Wage". Inc.com. No. November 2015. Archived from the original on May 29, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  30. ^ Isidore, Chris (October 27, 2015). "CEO who pays all staff $70,000 mortgages house, sells assets". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on April 23, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  31. ^ a b "Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price hasn't actually mortgaged his homes, property records show". 7 December 2015. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  32. ^ Goodyear, Sheena (2020-03-02). "Seattle CEO who pays workers at least $70K US says it's paying off in spades". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2020-03-05. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  33. ^ Romano, Tricia (April 24, 2020). "Stories from Seattle: Surviving the COVID-19 Crisis Without Layoffs is No Easy Feat". Seattle Magazine. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  34. ^ "Famed Seattle CEO Dan Price resigns from company amid assault allegations". KING 5. August 17, 2022. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  35. ^ Wagner, Bayliss (December 23, 2021). "Fact check: 47% of American young adults currently live with their parents". USA Today. Archived from the original on April 23, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  36. ^ Belle, Rachel (October 5, 2021). "How does Dick's Drive-In pay workers $19 an hour with a menu completely under $5?". MyNorthwest.com. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  37. ^ Nguyen, Andy (March 10, 2022). "Yes, oil companies are reporting record breaking profits. But it follows pandemic-fueled losses". PolitiFact. Archived from the original on April 23, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  38. ^ Downes, Sophie (July 23, 2021). "Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price: Don't Force Introverts Back Into the Office". Inc.com. Archived from the original on April 23, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  39. ^ Conrad, Brooke (June 8, 2021). "Dan Price accuses Twitter of 'shadow-muting' his account". WSET. Archived from the original on September 28, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  40. ^ Johnson, Jim Ludema and Amber (2018-08-28). "Gravity Payment's Dan Price On How He Measures Success After His $70k Experiment". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2018-08-28. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  41. ^ a b c Weiss, Geoff (2015-12-17). "Video Containing Allegations Dan Price Abused His Ex-Wife Won't Publish and Has Been Deleted". Entrepreneur. Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  42. ^ Kasperkevic, Jana (2015-12-03). "CEO who set $70,000 minimum wage: ex-wife's abuse accusations 'baseless'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
  43. ^ Jones, Katherine (December 4, 2015). "Father addresses allegations against Nampa-native CEO". Idaho Statesman. Archived from the original on August 19, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  44. ^ Weiss, Geoff (20 January 2016). "Dan Price's Ex-Wife Stands By Domestic-Abuse Allegations in Latest Blog Post". Entrepreneur. Archived from the original on 2021-09-25. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  45. ^ "Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price charged with sexual assault amid ongoing felony rape investigation". MyNorthwest.com. 2022-04-21. Archived from the original on 2022-05-15. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
  46. ^ Toay, Adel (April 21, 2022). "Seattle CEO Dan Price charged with assault, accused of attempting to forcefully kiss woman". KING 5. Archived from the original on April 22, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  47. ^ Green, Sara Jean; Rosenblatt, Lauren (May 31, 2022). "Seattle CEO Dan Price pleads not guilty to misdemeanor assault charges". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  48. ^ "Seattle CEO Dan Price pleads not guilty to misdemeanor assault, reckless driving charges". King 5. May 31, 2022. Archived from the original on June 17, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
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