Spotify on Tuesday became the latest company to adopt a co-CEO structure, naming Gustav Soderstrom and Alex Norstrom to the top job as billionaire founder Daniel Ek takes on executive chairman role.
The leadership change comes as the music streaming company expands into podcasts and audiobooks amid doubts over how it would balance growth and profitability. Its shares fell around 5 per cent in premarket trading.
Several high-profile firms such as Oracle and Netflix have adopted a co-CEO model to better manage their operations as they become more complex and globally diversified.
Spotify’s founder-CEO Ek will take over the role of executive chairman from January 1 next year. He has been a board member since 2008.
The co-CEOs will report to Ek and will also serve on the board upon receiving shareholder approval.
Co-CEO arrangements are rare among large listed firms. They can offer complementary leadership but have also raised concerns about divided authority.
Norström, as chief business officer, oversees subscriber and advertising businesses and all licensed, distributed and owned content on Spotify across music, podcasts, and audiobooks.
Söderström, who is co-president and chief product & technology officer, leads global tech strategy and oversees product, design, data and engineering teams.
The move formalizes a structure in place since 2023, with the co-presidents leading strategy and operations, Spotify said.
Ek will focus on capital allocation and long-term strategy in a European-style chairman role, the company said.
