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The chief executive of a credit card company is counting the cost of his decision to set a minimum wage of US$70,000 for all his 120 employees.

Dan Price, who slashed his annual US$1-million pay package to help fund his altruistic gesture and was hailed as the “world’s nicest boss,” has been forced to rent out his own home to make ends meet.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or CEO who set $70,000 minimum salary forced to rent out his home after his business ran into trouble Back to video

The issue of poverty pay is a sensitive one in the US and some states are already setting higher rates than the federal minimum wage of US$7.25 an hour.

But Price went considerably further after hearing of the problems faced by one friend who said she was struggling to survive on US$40,000 a year, which was rather more than he was paying his staff in Seattle.

His decision to increase their pay at the cost of his own gained him global attention and a fair measure of scorn from conservative commentators, such as Rush Limbaugh.