Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is stepping down as CEO and away from day-to-day operations at the company. The company had faced its most explicit criticism from artists and listeners yet, thanks mostly due to Ek's involvement with AI weapon developers.
But Spotify says Ek will stay play a big role in the overall direction of the company as its executive chairman. The changes will take place at the beginning of 2026.
Nearly Two Decades As Spotify CEO
Up until stepping down this week, Ek had been Spotify's CEO since its inception in 2006. A co-founder of the music streaming giant, all of Spotify's dominance in the music streaming era happened under Ek's leadership.
But so too did much of the controversy around Spotify, including multiple boycotts and major artist holdouts from the platform. Everything from how the platform compensates artists to its inability to combat bots and AI to controversial ways Ek chose to spend the company's money. As Spotify grew from a novel idea to an industry behemoth, Ek was at the helm of major decisions including spending massive sums to lock in exclusive deals with podcasters like Joe Rogan.
Ek was also always a fairly visible CEO, mimicking the actions of other notable companies like Apple and taking center stage to talk about his company's past successes and future plans. Ek wasn't just the CEO of Spotify, he was also the face of it.
In a press release, Ek says he already started turning over much of his day-to-day roles to others in the company. "This change simply matches titles to how we already operate. In my role as Executive Chairman, I will focus on the long arc of the company and keep the Board and our co-CEOs deeply connected through my engagement," Ek says in the statement.
Who Is Taking Over The Spotify CEO Role?
In a bit of an uncharacteristic move, Spotify announced Ek would be succeeded by not one, but two CEOs. Gustav Söderström (co-president and chief product and technology officer) and Alex Norström (co-president and chief business officer) will be take over the role as co-CEOs starting January 1, 2026.
If Spotify's press release is to be believed, the co-CEO role is a formal evolution of Söderström and Norström's previous co-president roles that started in 2023. In a joint statement, the pair said, "We’ve worked together a very long time and have seen Spotify through many different chapters. Nearly three years ago, when we stepped into our roles as co-Presidents, we charged our teams with relentlessly focusing on building the best and most valuable experience available anywhere and that ambition hasn’t changed. While we bring different experiences and perspectives to the CEO role, we both have a strong bias to action and can’t wait to get started knowing that we will have Daniel’s full partnership and ongoing support."
This change has apparently been several years in the making. Both Soderström and Norström have been with Spotify for more than 15 years.
Is Ek Stepping Down Due To Pushback?
There's no formal indication that Daniel Ek is stepping down as CEO of Spotify due to increased scrutiny over his other investment focuses. While the timing certainly seems to suggest that the global outrage over his involvement in AI military companies had an impact, the reality is it's probably more due to Ek's shifting priorities.
For instance, when Ek's venture capital firm led a nearly $700 million investment into defense company Helsing, it was revealed Ek had also become a chairman of Helsing. Ask any CEO — it's very difficult to make meaningful daily contributions to two companies valued at billions of dollars while also trying to develop and invest in others.
And Ek has said as much, telling Reuters he essentially wants to focus fully on funding and developing European tech companies who are "working on some of the biggest challenges through technology that make a meaningful difference." And truthfully, past Spotify boycotts didn't do much to move the needle against the company, so it's unlikely the current environment did much to push Ek out of his role at Spotify.
Will This Affect Spotify's Future?
So will a complete formal role change at Spotify affect how the company operates? Will new CEOs be more amenable to taking feedback and criticism of the platform? The incoming CEO tandem did hint at potentially bringing "different perspectives" to the role.
But in its press release, Spotify made it very clear that Ek will still be a looming presence over the long-term arc of Spotify. This, however, could be an attempt to mitigate fears and potential dips in the company's stock value. Much of the press release reads more like a reassurance to investors that Spotify will stay the course than an announcement of a bold new era.
But still, any time a major company goes through a leadership change for the first time in its history, there could be major questions. As of now, Spotify's share price has remained steady. Will that change at all in the new year when the switch officially happens?