CEO Who Took $1M Pay Cut To Raise Staff Salaries Says Business Has Trebled

The US boss who took a whopping $1million (£751,850) dollar pay cut so he could pay his staff more money says business has trebled since.

Dan Price, who runs Seattle-based Gravity Payments, cut his own wages by 90 percent so his employees could enjoy a $70,000 (£52,612) minimum salary.

And he says that since making the decision in 2015 he's seen his company flourish, with business trebling, staff turnover dropping by half and his employees living better lives.

Posting on Twitter, Price wrote: "When I started a $70k minimum wage for my company in 2015 Rush Limbaugh [a US political commentator] said: 'I hope this company is a case study in MBA programs on how socialism does not work, because it's gonna fail'.

"Since then our company tripled and we're a successful case study at Harvard Business School."

He then went on to document all the ways that not only has his business improved, but also the lives of his employees, saying that the amount that are home owners had increased 10 times; 70 percent had been able to pay off debts; the number of employees who had kids also increased 10 times; and staff are 76 percent 'engaged at work' - double the national average.

Speaking to the BBC earlier this year, Price said: "There was a little bit of concern amongst pontificators out there that people would squander any gains that they would have. And we've really seen the opposite."

He added: "Before the $70,000 minimum wage, we were having between zero and two babies born per year amongst the team.

Instagram/Dan Price

"And since the announcement - and it's been only about four and a half years - we've had more than 40 babies."

While employee Rosita Barlow, director of sales at Gravity, told the BBC: "When money is not at the forefront of your mind when you're doing your job, it allows you to be more passionate about what motivates you."

Adding: "You're not thinking I have to go to work because I have to make money. Now it's become focused on 'How do I do good work?'"

Topics: Daily Ladness, Interesting, US News

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19