Grateful employees gift Gravity Payments CEO, Dan Price, with Tesla S – last year, Price set his firm’s minimum wage to $70,000
Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price is presented with a TESLA sedan by his employees and he takes to Facebook to express amazement and gratitude ‘How do I even begin to say thank you?’
Last year Price took drastic pay cut, then raised the minimum wage at his company to $70,000
All 135 employees contributed to the gift which was organized by an employee who was one of those most impacted
Dan Price stares in amazement at the generous gift of a Tesla from his employees
Employees of a Seattle, Washington, based company presented their CEO with a new Tesla. Dan Price, CEO of Gravity Payments posted news of his new ‘Toy’ on Facebook, expressing he was “Shocked. Still in disbelief. Never imagined this was possible. Gravity employees saved up and pitched in over the past six months and bought me my dream car.”
Last year Price gave them a well-publicized big raise which pegged minimum wage at the company at $70,000, while pegging his own salary back from $1m to $70,000, as well. It would only seem fitting that the starting price for a Tesla Model S is $70,000.
It was a double dose of great things this week for Dan Price, CEO of Gravity now. First he survived a law suit filed by his brother and co-founder Lucas Price, which accused Dan of violating Lhis partner’s rights as a minority shareholder by paying himself too much and charging personal expenses to a corporate card. The lawsuit was served weeks before Dan Price said he came up with the minimum wage idea.
The post showed a photo of a poster signed by employees reading “Dan: Thank you for always putting the team before yourself.”
Gravity spokesman Ryan Pirkle said the gift was thought up and organized by Alyssa O’Neal, an employee who he said was one of the “most impacted” by the raise.
Pirkle said nearly every one of Gravity’s 135 employees contributed to the gift in some way.
Dan Price successfully contested the lawsuit after a three-week trial during which the brothers each presented evidence that attacked the other’s credibility. A judge ruled July 8 that Dan had not breached the contract in question, a 2008 document signed by the brothers that laid out the ownership structure and responsibilities of the company’s shareholders.
Photo collage shared on Facebook by Dan Price, tells the story
He posts ‘Shocked. Still in disbelief. Never imagined this was possible.
‘Gravity employees saved up and pitched in over the past six months and bought me my dream car.
‘A brand new, gorgeous blue #Tesla. Still in shock. How do I even begin to say thank you?’
Alyssa O’Neal said she and a co-worker were discussing ways to thank the CEO. ‘And, kind of the idea of a Tesla came up.’
Gravity spokesman Ryan Pirkle said the gift was thought up and organized by an employee who was one of those most impacted by Price’s decision last year to raise to $70,000 the annual salary for all the 135 people who work at the company that processes credit-card payments.
At the time Price said he would also make $70,000, dropping his salary from more than $1million annually.
The gift organizer, Alyssa O’Neal, said: ‘You know, we were kinda just sitting there, me and one other person, and kinda think of these crazy ideas of ways we can kind of thank Dan, and found the one thing that he really talks about a lot and loves.
‘And, kind of the idea of a Tesla came up.’
Dan Price was renting out his house in the wake of giving his employees the raise, it was revealed last year. Price said shortly after the announcement that he had listed his house on Airbnb to “make ends meet” as he adjusted to his new salary. Price’s home, which has a pool and three bedrooms, is still listed for $950 per night.
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