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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