Last week, MBW reported that key Spotify executives have sold some $1.16 billion in company stock so far this year amid a share price rally that has seen the streaming service eclipse the value of the world’s largest music company, Universal Music Group, by more than two to one.
Since then, Co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek has sold another tranche of shares, this time for just short of $37 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Ek has been selling shares in batches of 75,000, and the price he’s received for them speaks volumes about the rapid run-up in Spotify’s market value.
A sale of 75,000 shares, registered on November 20, netted Ek $34.8 million. Six days later, he sold the same amount again, this time for $36.1 million. His latest sale of 75,000 shares came to $36.999 million.
So far this year, Ek has sold 950,000 shares of Spotify, for a total of just under $320 million.
It’s been quite a ride for Spotify investors over the past few years. After hitting a rock-bottom level in November 2022, below $77 per share – an all-time low since the company’s IPO in 2018 – the stock has been rebounding steadily ever since.
That rebound turned parabolic this year amid solid earnings reports and expectations that 2024 will be the streaming service’s first full year of profitability.
On Wednesday (December 4), Spotify closed above $500 per share for the first time – $502.38, to be precise, up some 550% in two years. It gave some of that gain back on Thursday (December 5), trading at around $490 at mid-day.
That gives Spotify a market cap of around $98 billion, more than double the $45.2 billion market cap of Universal Music Group.
Ek isn’t the only one selling large amounts of Spotify stock amid the rally. In fact, co-founder and board member Martin Lorentzon takes first place in this race, having sold some 1.49 million shares for a whopping $556.77 million since the start of the year.
Here’s our updated breakdown of stock sales in 2024 by key individuals at Spotify:
- Martin Lorentzon, co-founder and board member, sold 1,488,364 shares for $556.77 million.
- Daniel Ek, co-founder and CEO, sold 950,000 shares for $319.999 million.
- Gustav Soderstrom, Spotify’s Chief Product and Technology Officer, sold 247,465 shares for a total of $91.1 million.
- Alex Norstrom, Chief Business Officer, sold 188,129 shares for $62.98 million.
- Barry McCarthy, a former CFO of Spotify and a current director on the board, sold 94,250 shares for $39.96 million.
- Katarina Berg, Spotify’s Chief Human Resources Officer, sold 102,491 shares for $37.93 million.
- Paul Vogel, the now-former CFO, sold 77,931 shares for $19.36 million.
- Eve Konstan Mothner, Spotify’s General Counsel, sold 16,234 shares for $7.34 million.
- Dustee Jenkins, Chief Public Affairs Officer, sold 13,709 shares for $6.22 million.
- Ben Kung, the company’s VP, Financial Planning and Analysis, who served as Interim CFO this year, sold 11,887 shares for $4.81 million.
Music Business Worldwide