'World's most generous boss' faces domestic violence claims
He was the millionaire CEO feted as a modern day Robin Hood when he announced he was slashing his own salary to pay for a ‘living wage’ for his employees.
Millions of people around the world lifted Gravity Payments boss Dan Price onto a pedestal as an icon of the growing movement to end wealth inequality.
But now it appears there may be more to the fairy tale than was first apparent.
Bloomberg reports the good-looking, 31-year-old businessman is now facing claims of domestic violence from his ex-wife. There are also claims his generosity may be motivated by a move to get around a potentially devastating lawsuit.
TEDx plans to publicly release on December 7. a talk containing allegations of multiple violent attacks on Price’s former wife.
Kristie Colón reportedly delivered a speech at the University of Kentucky on October 28, telling of a darker side to the man likened to both Brad Pitt and Jesus at the height of his popularity.
“He got mad at me for ignoring him and grabbed me and shook me again,” Bloomberg reported Kristie Colón telling the crowd.
“He also threw me to the ground and got on top of me. He started punching me in the stomach and slapped me across the face. I was shaking so bad.”
Colón told the audience she had once fled to her car: “afraid he was going to body-slam me into the ground again or waterboard me in our upstairs bathroom like he had done before.”
Dan Price and Gravity have refuted the allegations.
“Today’s story in BusinessWeek contained reckless accusations and baseless speculations that are unequivocally false,” Gravity Payments said in a statement.
Price told Bloomberg: “The events that you described never happened.”
Bloomberg also suggests there may be more than altruism motivating the world’s most generous boss’s decision to slash his own pay.
When Price announced in April that Gravity Payments workers would receive a $70,000 per year wage at the expense of his own $1.1 million salary, he explained it was about being fair to the workforce.
While many workers were thrilled with the move, two quit claiming it was unfair to the hardest working members of the team.
A lawsuit, the story goes, soon followed from his business partner, brother and Gravity Payments co-founder Lucas Price.
However, there are now allegations the lawsuit came before the pay rises with court documents allegedly revealing Lucas Price sued his brother Dan at least a month before he decided to slash his salary by more than $1 million.
The lawsuit revolves around the claim that Dan Price had been paying himself too much, upsetting his brother who owns a 30 per cent stake in the credit card payment processing business.
The case is due to head to court in May.
National domestic violence helpline: 1800 737 732 or 1800RESPECT. In an emergency call triple-zero.
News break – December 2
