Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price resigned amid legal troubles

Dan Price, co-founder and CEO of Seattle-based credit card processing company Gravity Payments, has officially stepped down, he shared in an email to the company today. COO Tammi Kroll will take over as Managing Director.

Price first made headlines and appeared on the cover of Inc. in 2015, when he announced he would take a substantial $1 pay cut. .1 million to $70,000, to establish a minimum wage of $70,000 in his company. Over the next few years, Price ran into legal troubles, including allegations of abuse. This, Price said in his resignation email (posted to Twitter), led his presence at his company to "become a distraction," leading to his decision to quit and "focus full-time on the fight against the false accusations" brought against him.

In 2016, Lucas, Price's brother and co-founder of Gravity Payments, filed a lawsuit against the then CEO. Lucas claimed that prior to his infamous pay cut, Dan had paid himself "excessive compensation" and violated his rights as a minority shareholder. A judge ruled in favor of Dan.

In October 2015, Price's ex-wife, Kristie Colón (née Lewellyn), gave a public lecture at the University of Kentucky, in which she alleged abuse by her ex-husband ( without explicitly naming Price). In December of that year, when questioned by a Bloomberg Businessweek reporter about these allegations, Price denied them.

Earlier this year, the Seattle Times reported that a woman accused Price of trying to kiss her and forcibly grabbing her throat after a business dinner . In May, Price pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault charges. The judge implemented anti-harassment protection against Price, which prevented him from contacting the alleged victim and coming within 300 yards of her. A representative for Gravity Payments and Price could not be reached for comment at this time.

Since launching into the national spotlight in 2015, Price has remained a fixture in the world of thought leadership. In 2020, Gravity Payments saw its annual revenue drop nearly 50%. Price called meetings with employees on how to respond; each employee opted to take a voluntary pay cut, with Price choosing to forgo his salary altogether. According to Price, this helped the company avoid laying off 20% of staff.

Today, Gravity Payments is paying employees a minimum wage of $80,000, Price said in a statement he shared on Twitter after announcing his resignation. He also pointed to landmarks of Gravity's success, including that the company has avoided laying off a single employee in its 18-year history and receives "300 applications per job posting." , despite the lack of publicity. "I'm proud of what we've done," the founder wrote.