Former Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price faces rape charge

Dan Price, the former CEO of Gravity Payments, a Seattle-based credit card processing company, is facing a felony sexual assault charge in California.

Price has been charged with raping an unconscious victim, according to a September indictment from Riverside County Superior Court. On Friday, Price and his attorney denied the allegations and stated their intention to contest the charges in court.

“This false accusation was first promoted in a blog of someone trying to bring me down in 2021 and then promoted worldwide in the press in 2022,” Price said in a post on X. “I am going to prove that the allegation is false in court. As I have said repeatedly throughout that time, I have never physically or sexually assaulted anyone; and I look forward to the opportunity to prove my innocence.”

Yesterday, I appeared in court in Riverside County California on allegations of sexual assault. The prosecutor immediately dismissed one of two counts.

This false accusation was first promoted in a blog of someone trying to bring me down in 2021 and then promoted worldwide in…

— Dan Price (@DanPriceSeattle) October 25, 2024

Court records, unsealed on Thursday, show that Price posted $55,000 bail. However, the charging documents were not immediately available.

Price founded Gravity Payments in Seattle in 2004 and gained significant attention in 2014 when he raised employees’ salaries to $70,000, cutting his own pay to do so. He is a social media personality known for criticizing corporate greed.

Related story: Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price resigns as he faces assault, reckless driving charges

However, former employees told The Seattle Times that Price’s public persona did not match his behavior behind the scenes.

Outside of work, Price has faced multiple allegations of misconduct, leading to two police investigations. One investigation in Seattle was dropped due to insufficient evidence, while the other resulted in the current charge filed in September and unsealed on Thursday.

Background: Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price charged with sexual assault amid ongoing felony rape investigation

In the current case, Price is accused of raping an intoxicated person in Palm Springs, California. The Palm Springs Police Department recommended charges to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office in 2022. Price, who has not been jailed, was indicted last month on a single charge of raping an unconscious victim, a felony.

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

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

Bill Kaczaraba is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here. Follow Bill on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email him here.