CEO Cuts His Pay To $70,000 So He Can Pay Employees The Same Amount

On Monday afternoon, Dan Price became a hero to his employees at Seattle's Gravity Payments.

Price, the business' CEO and founder, just announced his decision to cut his $1 million yearly salary down to $70,000 while raising the minimum salary of each employee to the same figure.

The adjustment will take up to a reported 80 percent of Gravity Payments' expected yearly profit as well as the excess money from Price's old paycheck, reports The New York Times.

The CEO's decision was influenced by conversations he'd shared about how difficult it can be to make ends meet with smaller salaries.

What's more, Price – who founded the company in 2004 when he was 19 years old – recently read a report about the change any amount of a raise makes in the quality of life of employees paid less than about $75,000 per year.

For Price's 120-person staff, who'd been earning a reported average salary of $48,000, the announcement reassured them they're working under a man who cares deeply.

Gravity Payments' website quotes Price as saying,

Every one of my teammates is a leader. Together we inspire growth through learning and bold action, relentlessly pushing the bar higher.

By cutting his own pay to help out others, Price creates a company culture founded in mutual respect.

His words aren't just a fancy-sounding mission statement.

Citations: Owner of a Credit Card Processor Is Setting a New Minimum Wage: $70,000 a Year (New York Times)