Spotify founder Daniel Ek to step down as CEO in January 2026

Spotify said on Tuesday that founder and chief executive Daniel Ek will step down in January 2026 to become executive chairman, while the company moves to a co-CEO structure. The announcement was made in a company statement filed with regulators and reported by Reuters.

According to Reuters, Gustav Söderström, currently chief product and technology officer, and Alex Norström, chief business officer, will become co-chief executives. Both have been with Spotify for more than 15 years and will manage operations jointly.

Ek said in the statement that his new role would focus on capital allocation and long-term strategy. “I will be more involved than a typical US chairman. So think of it a little bit like moving from a player to a coach,” Ek said, as quoted by Reuters.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Spotify shares fell by about 5% following the news, although the stock remains up 63% this year after the company delivered its first annual profit in 2024.

Paolo Pescatore, an analyst at PP Foresight, told Reuters that Ek “leaves the CEO role on a high note, with big boots to fill for the incoming CEOs.”

Spotify reported its first full-year profit in 2024, driven by subscription price increases and cost reductions, according to Bloomberg. The company said it had nearly 700 million monthly active users and a catalogue of more than 100 million tracks.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said in its 2024 Global Music Report that global recorded music revenue grew 4.8% to $29.6 billion, with streaming surpassing $20 billion for the first time. Subscription services accounted for more than half of the total.

Despite its leading position, Spotify faces competition from rivals including Apple, Amazon and YouTube. Bloomberg reported that Apple Music has about 90 million subscribers, YouTube Music benefits from integration with video, and Amazon Music is supported by its Prime membership base.

Spotify said Söderström will continue to oversee product development and technology, while Norström will manage subscriber growth, advertising, and content businesses covering music, podcasts and audiobooks.

Speaking to Reuters, Söderström said: “Norström is deeply interested in product, and I’m very interested in business. So we run this as a single team.”

Several multinational companies, including Oracle and Netflix, have adopted a co-CEO structure. However, some analysts have raised questions about the model. Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, told Reuters that “the big unknown is why Spotify needs an executive chairman and two chief executives, as that conjures up the idea that too many cooks spoil the broth.”

Ek’s career

Ek co-founded Spotify in 2006 in Stockholm, aiming to counter music piracy by offering a licensed streaming service. The company launched in the United States in 2011, when global industry revenues were still falling. Reuters reported that Spotify has since become the largest subscription streaming platform worldwide.

The Financial Times noted that Ek’s move to executive chairman reflects a European-style governance structure, in which chairmen remain more engaged in strategic planning compared with US practice.