Spotify, turning point: founder steps down as CEO

Spotify founder Daniel Ek is leaving his role as CEO of the Swedish music streaming giant. Ek, born in Stockholm in 1983, founded the company in 2006 and has seen it grow to become the world's largest music platform. 'The reason we are doing this now is that Gustav and Alex are doing a great job leading the company after taking over as deputy CEOs in early 2023,' Ek said in a video posted on X referring to Alex Norstroem and Gustav Soederstroem, who will become co-CEOs.

Ek will step down as CEO in early 2026 but will continue to be involved as a shareholder and chairman of the board. "I have two sons but Spotfiy is like my third son and now it is as if he is graduating," Ek remarked and reassured shareholders that he will have an active 'European style' chairman role.

Ek said he still sees many opportunities for growth, including 'a huge part of the world that is not yet used to streaming', in areas ranging from Asia to Africa, as well as new technologies such as artificial intelligence. "I will continue to push for us to look beyond the immediate, staying focused on the long term," he said.

Since Ek founded Spotify some 20 years ago, the platform has helped transform the music industry and paved the way for modern streaming. Today Spotify has over 700 million subscribers and offers a catalogue of more than 100 million songs, 7 million podcasts and 350,000 audiobooks.

Since the announcement, Spotify's share value has fallen by 5% on the stock exchange.