Photo: Gravity Payments
Criticism is part of the job when you’re the head of a successful company, andDan Pricereceived plenty of it six years ago when he announced a radical shake-up at Gravity Payments.
The move was surprising, and definitely wasn’t par for the course in the world of business. A study from theEconomic Policy Institutefound CEOs in the United States typically make 320 times as much as their workers, and most receive lucrative salaries averaging $21.3 million a year as of 2019.
Today, it seems Price’s decision has worked out for the best. On the sixth anniversary of his announcement, Price revealed onTwitterthat Gravity’s revenue has tripled since 2015.
“Six years later and our revenue has tripled. More importantly, our staff and company are thriving in various ways,” Price tells PEOPLE. “[We have a] 10-time increase in new homes bought and babies born. Employees have increased savings and paid down debts.”
Price did hear the criticism back then, and he kept receipts on those who delivered it, namely Fox News pundits who called him a socialist and predicted his employees would end up in “the welfare line.” He shared a few of the clips in avideoon social media.
“There are still people all over the world who believed we failed because we’ve been barraged with the scam of trickle-down economics,” Price says, referencing theeconomic theorythat reducing taxes on business and the wealthy will benefit the whole of society in the long term.
Then, after speaking with a friend who said a salary of $70,000 would help her raise a son and pay rent, Price was inspired to make a change at his Seattle-based company, which expanded to Boise, Idaho a few years ago and now has about 200 employees.
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Price says he felt it was important to share the update on social media to relieve skepticism and hopefully inspire other leaders to go against the grain.
source: people.com
