The CEO who gave everyone a $70K minimum salary in 2015 has a message for the doubters
Five years ago, Dan Price upended the status quo of the corporate world—one in which executives reap many times what employees sow—by taking a radical stance on salaries at his credit card processing company, Gravity Payments. First, he cut his own salary from more than $1 million to $70,000. Then he created a minimum salary of $70,000 for every employee at his company.
These moves made waves. People debated whether it was brilliance or silly idealism on Price's part.
As they say, the proof is in the pudding. And after five years, Price has receipts.
He recently wrote on Twitter:
"When I started a $70k minimum wage for my company in 2015, Rush Limbaugh 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 & we're a successful case study at Harvard Business School."
He added in another tweet:
"Since my company started a $70k min wage in 2015:
*Our business tripled
*Staff who own homes grew 10x
*401(k) contributions doubled
*70% of employees paid off debt
*Staff having kids soared 10x *
Turnover dropped in half
*76% of staff are engaged at work, 2x the national average"
Price seems to have hit on a truth that somehow eludes many in our cutthroat capitalist system—happy, satisfied employees are good for the bottom line. In Price's words, "When someone can actually focus on work without outside stresses, the company also benefits."
And that employee loyalty has paid off through the economic upheaval of the pandemic. Price told the Idaho Statesman that when the shutdown happened in March, Gravity faced a 55% revenue loss. Determined not to lay anyone off, Price cut his own salary down to $0. He met with his 185 employees, and nearly all of them volunteered temporary pay cuts of between 5% and 100%.
In 16 years of business, Gravity has never laid off employees and he didn't intend to start now. "I'm so proud of my team," Price told the Statesman. "I'm genuinely shocked by their willingness to sacrifice in so many ways and to help so many small businesses and get us to a place where we're going to be around for a long time."
Price is an outspoken advocate for employee pay structures that don't disproportionately enrich executives and upper management. In a tweet just today, he pointed out how much more CEOs make than their median worker—a number that has always been fairly ridiculous, but which has grown exponentially in the past few decades.
"At my company the highest-paid person makes 3x the median worker, down from 36x in 2015. Since raising wages and slashing my CEO pay, our business tripled."
There's no doubt that a CEO has more stress and higher risk, and may even work far more hours than an average worker. But 300 times more? No. That's not even humanly possible.
He's also highlighted the ludicrous reality that the stock market continues to climb and the uber-wealthy keep getting uber-wealthier during the pandemic, while tens of millions of Americans remain unemployed. Some of the reason for that, Price claims, is that companies are saving their billion-dollar profits by massively cutting jobs.
"Companies everywhere are doing this, which is how the stock market booms amid lower revenues," Price wrote. "Remember which companies valued profits over humans."
Price is a breath of fresh air in the business world—one it would be nice to see from more corporate executives. People over profits isn't just a saying, but a deliberate choice people in charge have to make. Price made that choice five years ago, and it has paid off in more ways than one. Employees are healthier, they're having more babies, they're buying more houses, and putting more money into their retirement plans.
"We saw, every day, the effects of giving somebody freedom," Price told the BBC.
And they're appreciative of Price's own sacrifices. So appreciative, in fact, that the team pitched in to buy Price a Tesla to replace the 12-year-old Audi he drove to work every day in 2016—a move they called giving Price "a taste of his own medicine."
Gravity Payments Team Surprises CEO, Dan Price, With A Tesla!www.youtube.com
More of this, please.
- Gravity Payments CEO raises minimum wage at company to $70K ... ›
- Target has permanently raised its employee minimum wage to $15 ... ›
- 5 successful corporations show what can happen when employees ... ›
- Penzey's Spices is 'looting' its own Kenosha store in a statement about priorities - Upworthy ›
- An explanation of the GameStop stock story for people who are wondering what it's all about - Upworthy ›
- Florida commissioner rejects governor's order to fly flags at half-staff for Rush Limbaugh - Upworthy ›
- Fox News predicted his 70K minimum salary idea would fail. He proved them wrong—by a lot. - Upworthy ›
- Matt Wallace's Twitter rant about companies that don't post salaries on job applications. - Upworthy ›
- Dan Price wants to change Giving Tuesday by putting money into the hands of his employees - Upworthy ›
- Dan Price is marking Giving Tuesday by putting donation money into the hands of his employees - Upworthy ›
- Burger King employee raises $200K after getting goodie bag - Upworthy ›
- Burger King employee raises $200K after getting goodie bag - Upworthy ›
Beaver in water. Photo by 
An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Not just coworkers—family, friends, strangers, kids…
Imagine having to go so badly but being out of euros. 
Anything hobbit-esque can't be wrong. 
But what if you need pain meds AND mascara?!
Imagine how this would affect childcare.
Honestly…where's the lie?
A brown buddha statue sits near a green mountain. Photo by 
Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
Ladybug unexpectedly found during colonoscopyPhoto credit: 
Close-up of bottom of ladybug found in colonPhoto credit: 
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."