CEO Dan Price took a 90 percent pay cut and slashed his company’s profits just so he could give his employees a raise.

Price, who heads up the Seattle payment processing firm Gravity Payments that he founded, has pledged to make sure all of his staffers make at least US$70,000 annually in the next three years.

To do that he’s cutting his US$1 million salary to US$70,000, and dipping into the firm’s annual US$2 million in profits.

This will double the pay of about 30 of his workers and will mean significant raises for an additional 40.

Price told employees of the new pay policy at a meeting. For several moments there was stunned silence before people broke into applause and high fives, said Phillip Akhavan, a merchants relations worker whose US$43,000 salary immediately jumped 16 percent to US$50,000.

“It took us a moment to understand what he was saying,” said Akhavan. His first call was to his wife, who he said didn’t believe him at first.

Nydelis Ortiz, a 25-year-old underwriter who only started work there in January, called her parents with the news. The family had struggled with homelessness after they moved to the States from Puerto Rico when she was a girl, and Ortiz, who also is now paid US$50,000, said she now makes more than both her parents combined.

Price said he’s the majority owner of the privately held firm, which he started in his college dorm room 11 years ago. His older brother, who gave him seed money to get started, is the only other stockholder.

“My brother Lucas reacted with caution and questions, but not objections,” said Price. He’s single so he didn’t have to explain his pay cut to a spouse.

Price decided to hike his employees pay after he read a study about happiness. It said additional income can make a significant difference in a person’s emotional well-being up to the point when they earn US$75,000 a year.

首席执行官丹·布莱斯自降九成年薪、大幅降低公司利润，以提高员工薪水。

布莱斯是西雅图支付处理公司Gravity Payments的创始人兼执行官。他承诺：未来3年内，所有员工的年薪将涨至不低于7万美元。

为此，他自降百万年薪至7万美元，并动用公司200万的年利润。

由于该计划，30名员工薪水翻倍，另有40名员工薪水得到大幅提高。

据该公司商户关系专员菲利普·阿哈万称，老板宣布这一消息后，所有人先是陷入不可置信的沉默中，随后全场爆发猛烈的掌声和欢呼声。阿哈万的工资提高了16%，从4.3万美元上升至5万美元。

阿哈万说：“过了一会儿，我们才找到了北。”他首先打电话给他的妻

子，他的妻子刚开始还不相信这个喜讯。

今年1月才来到公司的25岁核保人奥尔蒂斯立即打电话告诉父母这个消息。奥尔蒂斯一家自从在她小时候从波多黎各搬到美国以后，这么多年来总是为房租发

愁。现在，她的工资涨到5万美元，比她父母加起来的工资还要高。

布莱斯表示他是这个私人控股公司的大股东。11年前，还是大学生的布莱斯在宿舍成立了该公司。哥哥资助了

他，是公司仅有的另一个股东。

他说：“我哥哥卢卡斯对我的计划很疑惑，保持谨慎态度，但他没反对。”由于未婚，布莱斯不用向妻子解释其中缘由。

他做出这一决定是受一项关于幸福的研究的启发。该研究表明，年薪超过7.5万美元后人们的快乐程度大大增加。

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

   【承诺】chéngnuò pledge offer or guarantee by a solemn binding promise

    【击掌】jīzhǎng high five a hand gesture that occurs when two people simultaneously raise one hand each and push, slide, or slap the flat of their palm against the flat palm of the other person, meaning a greeting, congratulations or celebration