Dan Price, Seattle CEO Who Offered $70K Salary To All, Resigns

SEATTLE — Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price, who gained notoriety in 2015 by cutting his salary to boost employee pay, announced his resignation from the Seattle-based credit card processing company in a social media post Wednesday.

Price became a national fixture seven years ago after reducing his $1 million salary to raise the minimum pay for his more than 100 employees to $70,000, but now faces misdemeanor charges stemming from allegations that he forcibly kissed and physically assaulted a woman in January. Prosecutors formally filed assault and reckless driving charges in the case in February.

As The Seattle Times reported, Price has denied any wrongdoing and in March pleaded not guilty to all charges in Seattle Municipal Court. Price said resigning from the company would allow him to concentrate on his defense.

“Today I resigned as CEO of Gravity Payments, the company I founded 18 years ago,” Price wrote Wednesday. “My No. 1 priority is for our employees to work for the best company in the world, but my presence has become a distraction here. I also need to step aside from these duties to focus full time on fighting false accusations made against me. I’m not going anywhere.”

According to The Seattle Times, Price has faced earlier legal troubles, including a lawsuit from his brother alleging Price was overpaying himself in 2015, which a judge ruled against, and allegations of abuse from his ex-wife that surfaced the same year.

Gravity Payments’ chief operating officer, Tammi Kroll, will take over for price as CEO.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Bellevue Patch