Spotify founder Daniel Ek steps down as CEO, becomes executive chairman

Spotify said Tuesday that founder Daniel Ek is stepping down as CEO to become the executive chairman, in an announcement that sent its shares sliding in premarket trading.

The Stockholm-based streaming giant said Ek will be replaced by two lieutenants who will become co-CEOs: Chief Product and Technology Officer Gustav Soderstrom and Chief Business Officer Alex Norstrom. The pair, who are also currently copresidents, will transition into their new jobs on January 1 and will report to Ek.

Spotify said in a press release that the move "formalises" how Spotify has been operating since 2023, with Soderstrom and Norstrom largely leading strategic development and operational execution.

Ek said that he had already "turned over a large part of the day-to-day management and strategic direction" to the pair.

"This change simply matches titles to how we already operate," he said.

Since Ek founded Spotify about two decades ago, the platform's rise has helped transformed the music business and paved the way for modern streaming. Spotify now has more than 700 million subscribers and a library of more than 100 million songs, 7 million podcast titles and 350,000 audiobooks.

Spotify shares, which have doubled in the past year, fell more than 3 per cent in premarket trading after the announcement.