Spotify CEO Daniel Ek to Step Down. The Stock Is Falling.

Daniel Ek, founder of Spotify. (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images for Spotify)

Key Points

• Daniel Ek will step down as Spotify CEO at year-end, transitioning to executive chairman.
• Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström, current co-presidents, will assume roles as co-CEOs.
• Spotify’s stock falls Tuesday. It has risen 63% this year as of the close of trading Monday.

Spotify Technology founder Daniel Ek will step down as CEO of the music streaming platform at the end of the year.

Current co-Presidents Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström will take over as co-CEOs, while Ek will become executive chairman of the board. Ek will continue to oversee Spotify’s long-term strategy and capital allocation in this role, the company said.

“Over the last few years, I’ve turned over a large part of the day-to-day management and strategic direction of Spotify to Alex and Gustav,” Ek said in a statement. “This change simply matches titles to how we already operate.”

Spotify stock was falling 2.7% in premarket trading Tuesday. Shares have climbed 63% this year as of Monday’s close.

Ek has run Spotify since founding the company in Sweden with Martin Lorentzon in 2006. He took the company public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018 through a rare direct listing that valued it at around $27 billion.

Now domiciled in Luxembourg, the company has more than 696 million users and a market capitalization of just under $148 million. Revenue has expanded each year and the company posted a net profit for the first time in 2024.

Söderstrom and Nörstrom will attempt to continue that momentum. The pair have been co-presidents for almost three years, with Söderstrom leading product and technology and Nörstrom serving as chief business officer. They have worked at Spotify since 2009 and 2011, respectively.

Ek, meanwhile, will remain heavily involved in the business, the departing CEO wrote in an open letter to staff.

“Gustav and Alex will continue to report to me and we will work closely together with our Board of Directors,” Ek said. “This approach reflects a European Chairman setup, which is quite different from a traditional U.S. one that many of you might be familiar with. This also means I will be more hands on than some of my U.S. peers who have a Chairman title.”

Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com