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Gravity Payments
Dan Price turned Gravity Payments into a wage-floor experiment in 2015, running a $30B-plus payment processor for small businesses without outside...
Gravity Payments
Dan Price co-founded Gravity Payments in 2004 with his brother Lucas Price, building the company from a Seattle dorm room into an independent payment-processing firm serving independent merchants. Price bought out his brother's stake by 2008 following an internal dispute, leaving him as the sole controlling founder. The firm provides credit card processing, point-of-sale systems, and merchant analytics without venture capital backing or private equity ownership. The company processes over $30 billion in annual transaction volume for more than 20,000 small and mid-sized businesses across the United States (per the firm's official communications). Its product suite spans in-person terminals, e-commerce gateways, and integrated payments for platforms like QuickBooks and Salesforce. Unlike processor peers that rely on aggressive teaser rates and lock-in contracts, Gravity emphasizes transparent interchange-plus pricing with no early termination fees. Geographic coverage concentrates on the continental U.S., with Seattle remaining the operational headquarters. Gravity remains wholly owned by Dan Price, a structure that has enabled unconventional compensation decisions without investor override. The April 2015 minimum-wage announcement — Price cut his own salary from $1.1 million to $70,000 and raised the firm's minimum to the same level — generated sustained national media coverage and has since been followed by periodic across-the-board pay increases. Total headcount is not publicly fixed; operations are centered on Seattle with past office locations including Boise and a now-remote workforce component. Gravity's structural differentiator is its founder-controlled independence in an industry dominated by publicly traded acquirers and private-equity rollups. No institutional shareholders sit above operational decisions, and the firm is not a sourcing vehicle for a broader capital strategy. This independence makes the firm unusually vulnerable to succession risk: the entire governance model rests on a single controlling founder, and no public transition plan exists.
General information
Firm type
other
Year founded
2004
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Seattle
Corporate office
Seattle, WA, United States
Principals
Dan Price
CEO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Is Gravity Payments investor-backed or independently held?
Gravity Payments has never taken venture capital, private equity, or institutional debt funding. Dan Price retains sole ownership. The firm's growth has been organic, funded by operating cash flow rather than external capital. This ownership structure is unusual among payment processors at Gravity's scale, most of which are either acquired by larger platforms or run as private-equity platforms.
What happened with the $70,000 minimum wage policy?
In April 2015, Dan Price announced that every Gravity Payments employee would earn a minimum annual salary of $70,000, funding the increase partly by cutting his own compensation. The policy remains a core part of the firm's public identity. Employee pay has reportedly been raised further in subsequent years, though the firm no longer publicly anchors to the $70,000 figure as a ceiling.
Who runs Gravity Payments now?
Dan Price stepped down as CEO in September 2025 after issuing a statement regarding past personal conduct. He publicly named a successor, though the firm has released limited operational details about the transition. Gravity's governance remains founder-controlled, and no outside board or investment committee overlays management decisions.
How does Gravity's pricing structure differ from competitors?
Gravity emphasizes interchange-plus pricing with no early termination fees, a departure from the tiered rates and long-term contracts common among processor aggregators. The firm also avoids teaser pricing that escalates after an introductory period. Their sales messaging leans heavily on transparent merchant statements and month-to-month service terms.
What is Gravity's succession plan?
No public succession plan exists beyond the September 2025 CEO transition. The firm remains wholly owned by Dan Price, and there is no disclosed mechanism for transferring ownership or decision-making authority upon a permanent departure. This concentration of control is the primary governance risk identified by outside observers.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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