Spotify Names New CEOs as Daniel Ek Transitions to Executive Chairman

“Daniel Ek, Co-Founder & CEO, Spotify @ LeWeb 11 Les Docks-9069” by LeWeb14 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Daniel Ek will step down as Spotify’s chief executive officer to enter a new role as executive chairman in January. Announced today, Sept. 30, and effective starting Jan. 1, 2026, the company’s founder will be succeeded by co-CEOs Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström, currently co-presidents and chief product and technology officer and chief business officer, respectively. Söderström and Norström will report to Ek and join Spotify’s Board of Directors, pending shareholder approval.

The streaming giant’s announcement details that today’s executive restructuring is largely to formalize an existing balance of leadership responsibilities, with no mention of the move’s concurrence with scrutiny from artists and users alike, stemming from Ek’s investment in the weapons contractor Helsing.

“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–who have shaped the company from our earliest days and are now more than ready to guide our next phase,” Ek said in a statement. “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.”

As executive chairman, Ek will determine Spotify’s long-term strategy, oversee capital allocation and lead the senior team in the manner of a European Chairman. In a live Q&A, Ek stressed that his role would not be ceremonial, as US observers might expect, but rather one that is “quite active in the business” and its relationship with important outside parties, including governments. Spotify’s share value has fallen more than 5% since the initial announcement.

Spotify’s leadership transition arrives as the platform faces backlash for Ek’s venture capital firm Prima Materia and its investment in Helsing, a defense technology company specializing in AI-enhanced weapons and surveillance systems. Widespread objection to the connection has led several high-profile artists to remove their music from the platform, including Sylvan Esso, Massive Attack, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Cindy Lee, Hotline TNT, Skee Mask, John Mailander and more.

“While no solution is perfect, we simply can’t continue to put our life’s work in a store that, in addition to all its other glaring flaws, directly funds war machines,” Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn expressed today. “Reaching towards the world we all deserve, even though we are not in it yet.”

Spotify has made several other changes as criticism has intensified, including the introduction of lossless audio streaming and a new AI policy.