Spotify founder Ek to become executive chairman as two co-presidents take CEO roles

Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) announced that founder Daniel Ek will transition from chief executive officer to executive chairman effective January 1, 2026, according to a company statement.

Gustav Söderström, co-president and chief product and technology officer, and Alex Norström, co-president and chief business officer, will become co-chief executive officers. Both executives will report to Ek and join the company's board of directors subject to shareholder approval.

The leadership change formalizes an operational structure that has been in place since 2023, when the two executives became co-presidents and took on responsibilities for strategic development and day-to-day operations. As executive chairman, Ek will focus on capital allocation and long-term strategy for the streaming platform.

"Over the last few years, I've turned over a large part of the day-to-day management and strategic direction of Spotify to Alex and Gustav," Ek stated in the announcement.

Woody Marshall, lead independent director of Spotify's board, said the board has worked with Ek on the leadership evolution for several years. Both incoming co-CEOs have more than 15 years of experience with the company.

Spotify reported having more than 700 million users across 184 markets, including 276 million subscribers. The platform offers over 100 million music tracks, nearly 7 million podcast titles, and 350,000 audiobooks.

The company will host a question and answer session about the transition on September 30 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.

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