Dan Price: Man of my Freakin’ Dreams

I long for the days when I had the mindset that allowed me to write the post below. Sadly, the scales have fallen from my eyes. Once you’ve read this post, you may want to check this one out, for a dose of reality. https://theviewfromadrawbridge.com/2022/09/02/deprogramming-myself-from-dan-prices-cult-of-personality/

Somewhere in my beloved city of Seattle is a guy that I’d dearly love to meet. Not only is he gorgeous (albeit young enough to be my son), but he’s actually an amazingly thoughtful, talented, intelligent, unselfish and inherently reasonable human being. Don’t get me wrong. Many of us have these qualities, but it’s a rare person who has all of them.

I learned about Dan Price as a result of an interview he recently did on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah. He was talking about his company Gravity Payments, and the fact that this year he decided that every single one of his employees should be making a minimum of $70,000 a year. Every single one. Even the janitor.

He came to this figure because he read that that’s how much money you need to make in this country in order to have a quality of life that causes you not to have to make stressful life sacrifices. Once you reach that figure, you no longer worry about unexpected car repairs or utility increases. I wouldn’t know. I haven’t gotten there. I doubt I ever will.

How could he do this? Well, at that time he was making 1.1 million dollars a year himself. At age freakin’ 30. So yeah, he could do it. I would argue that he’s the only CEO on the planet who would be willing to do so, but yeah, it’s possible.

Believe it or not a few of his employees left the company because of this. Apparently they were outraged that others were now at their income level when they had to work so much harder to get there. This astounds me. Their salaries weren’t decreasing. They were just upset that now other people in the company were not struggling. How dare they be doing as well? I find that extremely pathetic.

Anyway, when I decided to read more about Dan Price, I discovered that he was based in Seattle. Of course he is. I should have known. Seattle is the coolest, most forward-thinking, out-of-the-box place in the entire country. I just love it here. And all the more so because I know that this guy is wandering around within its city limits.

I’d like to meet him, just to give him a high five and a hug. You go, man.

Author: The View from a Drawbridge

I have been a bridgetender since 2001, and gives me plenty of time to think and observe the world. View all posts by The View from a Drawbridge