Spotify’s Daniel Ek to step down as CEO

Swedish music streaming company Spotify announced that its longtime Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek will step down at the end of this year.

Ek will take on the role of executive chairman from January onward. The company’s current two co-presidents, Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström, will take the helm as co-CEOs of one of Europe’s strongest technology brands.

Ek co-founded Spotify and grew the company into a cultural behemoth with more than 696 million users and 276 million subscribers worldwide.

As one of Europe’s most highly valued tech companies, Spotify has also turned into a politically relevant player at the EU level.

It led a charge against Apple by filing a complaint against the U.S. firm’s alleged misuse of its dominant position in distributing music streaming apps through its App Store. This eventually led the Commission to impose a €1.8 billion fine on Apple in 2024.

Ek regularly weighed in personally on how Brussels handled antitrust matters.