Seattle CEO who cut his $1M salary to $70k quit after he was accused of RAPE

Seattle CEO Dan Price has been accused of rape by his ex-girlfriend who claims that he attacked her as she tried to sleep during a luxury getaway.

Price made international headlines after slashing his own pay from $1m to $70k while raising the minimum wage at Gravity Payments.

The tech CEO said the money would allow him to raise Gravity Payments’ minimum wage to $70,000 within a three-year period, up from $48,000. 

He resigned from his company amid reports that he had forcibly kissed a woman,26, and grabbed her by the throat after she rejected his advances.

However reports on Thursday, August 18, state that he stepped down from the role after being contacted about a rape allegation.

Kacie Margis, a model and artist, told the New York Times that her former partner Price assaulted her during a trip together to Palm Springs, California, last year.

The 27-year-old says that they were dating for around three months before the trip, with Price allegedly kicking Margis out of their hotel room for hours so he could take a call.

She was only wearing a bikini and cover-up at the time, and the former CEO became angry when she rebuffed his attempt to kiss her.

Margis told the New York Times that Price reportedly said it was ‘so hard being him in the world because of his intelligence’.

The model returned to the hotel room after their argument, taking a cannabis edible before Price asked her for sex and she refused.

She told cops that as she fell asleep she felt Price penetrate her even after she said no, and was worried ‘he would kill her if she tried to stop him’.

Margis said she asked Price ‘did you just rape me?’ before the multi-millionaire denied the allegation that he assaulted her.

Police in Palm Springs are now recommending that Price should face a charge of rape of a drugged victim, but no charges have currently been brought.

Price, 35, started dating Margis after messaging her on Instagram on Valentine’s day in 2020, but the model didn’t reply until the following year.

After the attack, Margis text a friend that she was ‘shaking’ and ‘could hardly speak’, adding that Price had looked her ‘dead in the eyes and said what I know happened didn’t happen.’

She only came across Price after spotting his posts on social media championing workers’ rights and corporate responsibility.

Price and Gravity Payments did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.

The former CEO alluded to the allegations made against him in his resignation statement, and is now facing multiple allegations of misconduct.

He said: ‘My No. 1 priority is for our employees to work for the best company in the world, but my presence has become a distraction here.

‘I also need to step aside from these duties to focus full time on fighting false accusations made against me. I’m not going anywhere.’

Four other women spoke to the New York Times, detailing their own misconduct allegations against Price.

Seattle-based fitness trainer, Serena Jowers, claims that Price began watching porn durin their third date and pressured her to have sex.

Jowers and the three other women all alleged that the former CEO filmed them without their consent.

One woman, who was only identified as a former partner of Price, claims that he had sex with her in the middle of the night on multiple occasions without her consent.

Price was charged earlier this year with misdemeanor assault and reckless driving after he allegedly attempted to kiss a woman following a business meeting.

He then grabbed her by the throat when she blocked his advances, before performing ‘donuts’ in his Tesla while she was still in the car.

Price pleaded not guilty to the charge in May and has denied wrongdoing.

In 2015, Price’s ex-wife Kristie Colon gave a speech where she claimed that he had physically assaulted her.