SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle CEO who announced in 2015 that he was giving himself a drastic pay cut to help cover the cost of big raises for his employees has announced his resignation.
The Seattle Times reports Dan Price, the embattled CEO of credit card processing company Gravity Payments, resigned Wednesday.
Price stunned his 100-plus workers when he told them he was cutting his roughly $1 million salary to $70,000 and using company profits to ensure that everyone there would earn at least that much within three years.
Price wrote in a statement on Twitter that his presence had become a distraction at the company.
“I also need to step aside from these duties to focus full time on fighting false accusations made against me,” Price, who founded the company 18 years ago, said. “I'm not going anywhere.”
Price is currently fighting charges of assault and reckless driving in Seattle.
Chief operating officer Tammi Kroll will take over as CEO.