Daniel Ek’s Recent Share Sales
The General Director and co-founder of Spotify, Daniel Ek, has sold another $27.6 million worth of shares. This transaction took place on Wednesday (April 2), continuing the sales strategy he initiated in mid-2023.
This transaction involved 50,000 shares sold on Tuesday (April 1) at a closing price of $551.73 per share.
As of Wednesday, Spotify’s stock in New York saw a remarkable increase of 109.7% over the past year, compared to the S&P 500 index which recorded an 8.9% increase as of Wednesday.
Overview of Share Sales
Since the beginning of the year, Ek has been selling shares every two weeks, bringing in a total of $211 million. His previous notable sale was on March 19, when he sold 50,000 shares for $28.5 million.
The latest sale on Tuesday marks the 17th since July 2023, totaling his earnings from share sales to $751.6 million, which includes $376 million sold solely in 2024, according to calculations by MBW.
- In July 2023, Ek sold 675,000 shares for $100 million;
- In October 2023, he sold 400,000 shares for $64.2 million;
- In February 2024, Ek sold 250,000 shares for $57.5 million;
- In April 2024, Ek sold 400,000 shares for $118.8 million;
- In November 2024, Ek sold 75,000 shares for $35.8 million;
- In November 2024, Ek sold another 75,000 shares for $34.8 million;
- In November 2024, Ek sold 75,000 shares again for $36.1 million;
- In December 2024, Ek sold another 75,000 shares for $37 million;
- Also in December 2024, Ek sold 60,000 shares for $28.3 million;
- In December, Ek sold 60,000 shares for $27.2 million;
- In January 2025, Ek sold 60,000 shares for $27.8 million;
- Also in January 2025, Ek sold 60,000 shares for $29.3 million;
- In February 2025, Ek sold 60,000 shares for $37.3 million;
- In February 2025, Ek sold 50,000 shares for $31.5 million;
- In March 2025, Ek sold 50,000 shares for $29.2 million;
- Also in March 2025, Ek sold 50,000 shares for $28.5 million;
- In April 2025, Ek sold 50,000 shares for $27.6 million.
Ek’s Continued Influence and Spotify’s Growth
Despite his ongoing share divestments, Ek continues to maintain significant control over Spotify with 14.3% ownership, representing 29.1% voting power since the end of 2024, as noted in the latest 20-F application released in February. Spotify co-founder Martin Lorentzon holds 9.8% of the company with 41.6% voting power.
Lorentzon has also sold parts of his holdings, totaling $556.8 million in Spotify shares last year through his holding company, Rosello Co. Ltd.
Overall, Spotify has sold $1.31 billion in shares.
As previously reported by MBW, since July 2017, Ek has forgone a traditional salary in favor of a performance-based bonus structure tied to growth metrics.
The company has consistently increased its subscriber base, achieving its first year of operating profitability in 2024. The global Spotify Premium subscriber base has grown by 11% year on year in the 4th quarter of 2024, totaling 263 million paying users. For the quarter, paid subscriptions increased by 4% compared to the 3rd quarter of 2024.
Consequently, Spotify’s operational income hit a record high of €477 million ($509.48 million) in the fourth quarter, leading to an annual operational revenue of €1.4 billion ($1.495 billion).
“I am very excited about 2025 and I feel very optimistic about where we are both as a product and as a business,” Ek stated when announcing the company’s results for 2024.
Since the beginning of 2025, Spotify has continued to roll out various features aimed at attracting new users and retaining existing ones. Later this month, SPOT plans to expand access to its monetization program for audio and video content creators to another nine markets.
Daniel Ek pockets another $27.6m from selling Spotify shares – cashing out over $750m since 2023
