Gravity Payments founder Dan Price faces rape charge in California

Dan Price, the former CEO of Seattle-based credit card processing company Gravity Payments and a social media star known for lambasting corporate greed, is facing a felony sexual assault charge in California. 

A grand jury in Riverside County, Calif., indicted Price in September on one count of rape of an unconscious victim, according to court records. Those records were unsealed Thursday, but the charging papers were not immediately available.

Reached for comment Friday, Price and his attorney denied the allegations and said they plan to fight them in court. He previously posted $55,000 bail.

In a statement, Price said, “I have never physically or sexually abused anyone. I’m going to fight this charge and prove my innocence in court.”

“There is no credible evidence to support this accusation, and Mr. Price categorically denies that he sexually assaulted anyone,” Vicki Podberesky, who is representing Price, said in a statement. “We intend to vigorously defend against this charge, and we are confident that in the end Mr. Price will be cleared of all wrongdoing.”

Price founded Gravity Payments in Seattle in 2004. He gained notoriety in the business world 10 years later when he raised employees’ salaries to $70,000, cutting his own pay to do so. 

Over the years, he continued to build a name for himself on social media with viral posts championing higher wages and better working conditions for the average employee. 

He was hailed as “the one moral CEO in America” by former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich, and held up as “an example that other companies should learn from” by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. He appeared on Kelly Clarkson’s TV show, MSNBC and Fox News.

But, former Gravity Payments employees told The Seattle Times that Price became obsessed with curating that compassionate persona, and that it didn’t match the person behind the viral social media posts. 

As CEO, Price cultivated a sense of fear and built a company that, as one former employee put it, was “just there to get Dan famous.” 

In interviews and correspondence with 40 individuals, as well as police reports, court documents and internal communications, a picture emerged of Gravity as a small company that drew an outsized amount of attention with Price at the helm. Gravity offered workers raises and opportunities to get in on Seattle’s tech boom, but, many former employees said, those came at the cost of stressful days, sleepless nights and lasting memories of working for a man six former employees described as a “manipulative” boss.

“You see the Dan in the news where he’s very charming and polished and then you’d hear these behind-the-scenes stories,” Caitlin Palfenier, a former Gravity recruiter, told The Seattle Times in 2022. “He either wants you to worship him or, if you don’t worship him, he wants you to be afraid enough to not do anything about it.” 

Price and Gravity denied those allegations. 

“I am immensely proud of the nearly two decades of work that went into building Gravity Payments into a thriving company,” Price said by email in 2022. “It has always been my goal for Gravity Payments to be both a successful and ethical company.”

Outside of the workplace, Price faced several allegations of misconduct.

One led to a Seattle investigation that was ultimately dropped due to a lack of evidence. City of Seattle prosecutors filed misdemeanor assault charges against Price in 2022, following allegations that he had forced unwanted kisses on a woman and wrapped his hands around her neck. Those charges were withdrawn a year later due to “proof” problems, according to court records.

Shortly after the Seattle charges were filed, The New York Times published a story that included allegations against Price of misconduct, harassment and assault from a dozen people. Price denied the allegations.

He stepped down as CEO of Gravity Payments that month, amid the flurry of allegations, because his presence had “become a distraction” to the company, he wrote at the time.

An April 2021 incident in Palm Springs, Calif., led to the charge unsealed Thursday. 

In that case, Price was accused of raping an intoxicated person. The Palm Springs Police Department recommended charges against Price to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office in 2022. 

Price was indicted on a single charge of rape of an unconscious victim, a felony sexual offense. A second count, raping an intoxicated person, brought against Price at the same time was dismissed.

Podberesky said Friday that “as further facts come to light it will be clear that Mr. Price is innocent.”

Price returned to Gravity in May of this year in a “new role advising and assisting the CEO on strategy,” he told his social media followers.

Price is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 10 in Riverside County Superior Court.