SPOTIFY is one of the most popular streaming platforms for music, podcasts and more, with one man remaining the face of the company.
Swedish billionaire and current CEO Daniel Ek and his business partner Martin Lorentzon are in charge of the mega-hit app.
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Who is Daniel Ek?
Daniel Ek is the CEO of Spotify, jointly creating the music app with Martin Lorentzon.
He was born on February 21, 1983, in Stockholm and before setting up Spotify he launched Nordic auction company Trader, which was acquired by eBay in 2006.
He was inspired by his love of music to set up Spotify, kickstarting one of the biggest apps in the world as a result.
Ek married longtime girlfriend Sofia Levander in 2016 in a wedding attended by A-list celebrities and musicians.
At their wedding, Ek was photographed getting chummy with Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan.
Ek and Levander have two daughters and share a $50million home in Stockholm.
In September 2021, Gunners fan Ek made a bid of just over $2billion to Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke to purchase the soccer club.
Does Daniel Ek own Spotify?
Co-founders Ek and Lorentzon split duties as CEO for a time, but Lorentzon has relinquished the title, instead focusing on financial analysis.
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According to Forbes, Lorentzon owns 12% of the company.
Ek has 16.7% ownership of ordinary shares and 31.9% of the voting power.
As CEO he has become the public face of Spotify and was named the most powerful man in music by Billboard in 2017.
As a competitor to Apple’s iTunes and later Apple Music, Spotify has faced a long and contentious battle to get platformed on the App Store or add features to the Apple Watch.
A timeline of their business rivalry is available on a Spotify-sponsored site.
Spotify went public in 2018, thereby diversifying ownership and allowing venture firms like Baillie Gifford, Morgan Stanley, and T. Rowe Price to purchase a stake in the music streamer.
According to Rolling Stone, Ek and Lorentzon have retained 77% of the voting power despite owning just a collective 21% of Spotify’s shares.
What is Daniel Ek’s net worth?
Ek has a net worth of $2.6billion, according to Bloomberg.
His considerable stake in the company’s shares has netted him this massive figure, with Spotify still proving to be a popular platform.
How was Spotify created?
Spotify was founded in 2006 and made available in the United States in 2011.
The company’s name is a portmanteau of “spot“ and “identify”.
Ek had successful ventures prior to founding Spotify, establishing multiple businesses by the age of 16.
He was once rejected for a job at Google.
Ek is not as visible as super-CEO Elon Musk on social media, but Spotify’s Instagram page has 8.6million followers as of October 2022, and an aesthetic that joins high-resolution portraits with vibrant colors and digital graphics.
