Spotify CEO Daniel Ek to step down
Daniel Ek, co-founder and long-time CEO of Spotify, announced on Sept. 30, 2025 that he will step down as CEO on January 1, 2026 and transition to the role of executive chairman. Spotify named Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström as co‑CEOs, formalizing a leadership structure that the company says already reflected its operating reality. The move comes amid a controversy after Ek’s venture firm invested over $700 million in Helsing, a defense startup, prompting several indie and major artists to remove music from the platform.
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🔍 Key Facts
- Daniel Ek announced Sept. 30, 2025 he will leave the CEO role effective January 1, 2026 and become Executive Chairman
- Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström will become co‑CEOs (both were co‑presidents since 2023)
- Ek's VC firm Prima Materia invested more than $700 million into Helsing, a German defense startup, sparking artist protests and withdrawals (Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, Hotline TNT; Massive Attack removed music on Sept. 18; Sylvan Esso removed catalog on Sept. 30)
- Spotify reported more than 700 million users in Ek's statement
📍 Contextual Background
- U.S. federal law Section 230 provides online platforms with broad legal protections that allow them to make content-moderation decisions without being held liable for those decisions.
- YouTube and its parent company Alphabet agreed to pay a total of $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Donald J. Trump over the temporary suspension of his YouTube account after the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack.
- Meta agreed to pay $25 million to Donald J. Trump to settle a 2021 lawsuit over its suspension of his accounts following the Capitol attack.
- X agreed to pay $10 million to Donald J. Trump to settle its lawsuit concerning his account suspension; that lawsuit was filed before Elon Musk acquired the platform.
- Donald J. Trump's YouTube account was restored in 2023.
- Donald J. Trump's accounts on Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and X were restored in 2022.
- Corporate and individual donors have pledged nearly $200 million to cover construction costs for the planned White House State Ballroom; donors named in reports include Google, R.J. Reynolds, Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, Palantir, and NextEra Energy.