Amidst a surge in its stock value, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has sold off a total of $176.3 million worth of shares in the company this year. The sales come as Spotify’s stock has grown by approximately 60% year to date. In a recent transaction, Ek sold about 400,000 shares worth $118.8 million, following a separate sale of 250,000 shares worth $57.5 million in February.
The surge in Spotify’s stock value comes as the company reported record profitability last quarter, despite having to make significant staff cuts in December. Ek acknowledged that the layoffs of 1,500 employees were more impactful than anticipated, as part of a total of 2,500 job cuts in 2023.
Like other tech executives during times of tremendous growth, Ek is not the only one to sell off shares in their companies. Prominent figures like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg have also sold billions of dollars’ worth of stock in their respective companies as shares of Amazon and Meta have swelled. Similarly, Jamie Dimon has sold off tens of millions of dollars worth of JPMorgan stock this year.
Spotify’s former CFO Paul Vogel and other members of its executive team have also sold tens of millions of dollars in stock this year. Spotify has not yet responded to Business Insider’s requests for information regarding these sales.
