Spotify CEO's US$1B wealth loss adds to pain over Joe Rogan
BNN Bloomberg
The tech market meltdown is making a bad year for Spotify Technology SA’s Daniel Ek even worse.
The tech market meltdown is making a bad year for Spotify Technology SA’s Daniel Ek even worse.
The chief executive officer of the audio-streaming powerhouse is in the middle of a maelstrom over accusations that Spotify is helping spread vaccine misinformation via the world’s most popular podcast. Now, in the wake of a broader stock-market rout, Ek — who co-founded the company — is also contending with a US$1 billion drop in his net worth so far in 2022.
It’s quite a change in fortune for the 38-year-old Ek, who only last February saw his wealth peak at US$5.7 billion as shares of the company scaled a record high — shortly after “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast became exclusively available on the platform. He even made a bid for London’s Arsenal Football Club, but was rebuffed by American billionaire Stan Kroenke.
The bulk of Ek’s wealth is tied up in Spotify shares — he owns about 8 per cent of the company — which have dropped by almost a third this year, dragging down his net worth to US$2.6 billion as of Thursday morning in New York, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Spotify’s immediate woes have less to do with the controversy over the Joe Rogan podcast and more to do with tough market realities. The tech sector has been struggling this year. Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. plunged as much as 26 per cent Thursday, its biggest decline ever, after reporting lackluster user growth. The drop wiped billions off co-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth.
Spotify has posted disappointing numbers too. The company said on Wednesday it would end the first quarter with 418 million total users and 183 million paid subscribers, both shy of Wall Street expectations. It’s also dealing with some artist defections.
