Daniel Ek Steps down as Spotify CEO

Spotify founder Daniel Ek is stepping down as the company’s CEO nearly two decades after launching the streaming platform.

The company announced that Ek will transition to the role of executive chair starting from January 1, 2026. He will be succeeded by two longtime executives - Gustav Söderström, the company’s chief product and technology officer, and Alex Norström, chief business officer. Both currently serve as co-presidents and will assume the co-CEO titles in the new year.

Since its founding in 2006, Spotify has grown into the world’s largest audio streaming platform, with over 700 million subscribers. Its library includes more than 100 million songs, 7 million podcast titles, and 350,000 audiobooks.

The company said the leadership reshuffle "formalises" a structure that has already been in place since 2023, with Söderström and Norström overseeing day-to-day operations and strategic decision-making.

Ek acknowledged the transition in a statement, saying he had already “turned over a large part of the day-to-day management and strategic direction” to the duo. “This change simply matches titles to how we already operate,” he continued, adding that his new position would allow him to focus on Spotify’s "long arc."

The announcement comes less than a week after Spotify revealed a number of new AI-related policies, saying it will not ban AI-generated music unless it is "spam" or "slop" and will support accounts' "freedom to use AI creatively."

A number of artists, including Godspeed You! Black Emperor and King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard, have also removed their music from Spotify as of late, following Ek's involvement in defence startup Helsing.