Why is Spotify CEO Daniel Ek Stepping Down From the Role?

Spotify has announced that after almost 20 years as CEO, Daniel Ek will transition to the role of Executive Chairman, effective from the start of 2026.

“I have two real kids and Spotify is like my third”, says Daniel, who also founded the streaming platform,  in a post on LinkedIn, adding “it feels like Spotify is graduating”.

Replacing Daniel as co-CEOs are current co-Presidents Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström.

In 2023, Daniel promoted the pair to their co-President positions in a move designed to provide them with more leadership experience.

Discussing the next phase of Spotify’s journey on LinkedIn, Daniel says: “The reason we are doing this now is because Gustav and Alex are doing an amazing job leading this company having stepped in to become co-Presidents in 2023.”

Having worked with Gustav and Alex for 15 years at Spotify, Daniel listed their collaborative successes, including: “everything from audiobooks to scaling video podcasts, to AI DJ, to mixes, to daylists”.

It seems Spotify has quietly been working on leadership  transition for years, with the CEO sharing in a recent statement that he’s turned over a large part of day-to-day management and strategic direction of Spotify to the pair over the last couple of years.

“They are more than ready to guide our next phase”, Daniel added. 

The future of Spotify’s leadership

Spotify says that Daniel’s new position will highly resemble a European Chairman set up - leading capital allocation, mapping the long-term future of Spotify and providing support and guidance to the leadership team.

The new co-CEO setup formalises how Spotify has successfully operated since 2023 with the co-Presidents leading strategic development and operational execution at Spotify.

Gustav, also current Chief Product and Technology Officer, “is a technologist at heart, he is one that really sees around corners”, Daniel said on LinkedIn.

He added: “He loves strategy, he loves platform shifts, he loves the user experience.”

Gustav has been leading the products and engineering teams and has been praised by the company for being instrumental in getting the product story to where it is today.

Alex, current Chief Business Officer alongside co-President, took on the role when the subscription numbers were under a million. 

Now, that number is at over 300 million, which the Spotify leader says is “just phenomenal”.

Woody Marshall, Lead Independent Director of Spotify’s Board, said: “We have tremendous confidence in Alex and Gustav as they step into these roles. They each have more than fifteen years with the company and have been instrumental in driving our success and enabling Spotify to lead our industry. 

“We are also thrilled that Daniel will be actively involved, giving Spotify both founder-led strategic stewardship and mentorship to the co-CEOs as the company continues to innovate and scale.”

What’s next for the CEO?

As the Founder of Spotify, Daniel said he started the business because the music industry was really decelerating and shrinking. He took on the challenge to try and fix that and issues with music piracy.

Since its start, Spotify has paid out over US$60bn, which the CEO says has helped the music industry grow massively - reaching over 700 million users.

Talking about what’s next for him, Daniel says: “I’m still going to be involved in the long arc of spotify, so the big strategic decisions, the big moments in the company, and help guide Gustav and Alex through that journey.

“I want to say a huge thank you to all Spotifiers past and present for bringing us to this journey. It’s been an honour of a lifetime for me to be able to lead Spotify for close to 20 years, it’s honestly quite emotional for me.”