I may have actually found a legal reason for this. I found an "Exemption for Executive Employees" - http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/fairpay/fs17b_executi... - wherein it appears to me (also not a lawyer) that anyone who owns at least 20% interest in a company is exempt from minimum wage requirements. Since everyone involved owns more than 20% I think this one is good enough for me!