Daniel Ek
Born 1983 · Age 42
Swedish entrepreneur and technologist; co-founder and CEO of Spotify; investor and co-founder in healthtech and deep-tech ventures (Neko Health, Prima Materia).
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Stockholm, Sweden
Daniel Georg Ek was born in the Rågsved district of Stockholm, Sweden.
Begins building websites as teenager
Started making websites and running web-hosting services from his bedroom; early entrepreneurship and coding.
Early web-development business growth
Expanded freelance web business; sources report charging increasing amounts and hiring classmates by late teens.
Entered KTH Royal Institute of Technology (dropped out)
Studied engineering at KTH for approximately eight weeks before leaving to pursue his IT career full-time.
Worked at Jajja (early SEO role)
Shortly after high school, Ek worked at Jajja, a search-engine-optimization firm.
Graduated high school (IT‑Gymnasiet)
Graduated from IT-Gymnasiet in Sundbyberg Municipality.
Senior role at Tradera (Nordic auction site)
Held a senior position at Tradera, a Nordic auction company (later acquired by eBay).
Became briefly CEO of μTorrent
After selling Advertigo, Ek briefly served as CEO of μTorrent and worked with founder Ludvig Strigeus.
Sold Advertigo to TradeDoubler
Advertigo, Ek's online advertising company, was sold to TradeDoubler (reported sale March 2006 for SEK 10 million).
Tradera acquired by eBay
Tradera (where Ek had held a senior role earlier) was acquired by eBay in 2006 — contextual career milestone.
Incorporated Spotify AB with Martin Lorentzon
Ek and TradeDoubler co-founder Martin Lorentzon incorporated Spotify AB in Stockholm (founding of Spotify).
μTorrent sold to BitTorrent
μTorrent (where Ek briefly served as CEO) was acquired by BitTorrent in December 2006; Ludvig Strigeus later joined Spotify's engineering team.
Launched Spotify's legal music service
Spotify launched its licensed, freemium music streaming service in multiple European countries (October 2008).
2009 security breach reported
A 2009 security flaw exposed password hashes and emails (Spotify asked users to update passwords); part of a series of security incidents recorded by the company.
Recruited Ludvig Strigeus to Spotify engineering
After μTorrent's sale, Ludvig Strigeus joined Ek at Spotify to lead programming and development work on the product.
Venture capital interest grows
By 2010 venture capital began flowing into Spotify; analysts estimated potential valuations in the billions.
2011 malware/ads attack on free accounts
Malicious ads exploited a bug causing malware affecting some free Spotify users; Spotify temporarily took ads offline.
Spotify reaches ~20M monthly active users
Reported to have ~18 million songs and over 20 million monthly active users by 2012 (not all paying).
Ministry of Sound lawsuit settlement (2014 reported)
Ministry of Sound sued Spotify over playlist/compilation issues (suit filed 2013; settled 2014), prompting product policy changes.
Switched from P2P to server-client model (announcement in 2014)
Spotify migrated away from its initial peer-to-peer distribution model (similar to μTorrent) to a server-client architecture (announced April 2014).
2014 Android security incident
A security issue led Spotify to briefly remove its Android app from stores as a precaution (reported isolated incident).
Public dispute with Taylor Swift over catalog availability
Taylor Swift pulled 1989 and later her full catalog from Spotify in protest of the free tier; Ek publicly responded. Music later returned by 2019.
Married Sofia Levander at Lake Como
Ek married longtime partner Sofia Levander; ceremony featured Bruno Mars performing and Chris Rock officiating; notable guests included Mark Zuckerberg.
Became Chairman of Spotify
Martin Lorentzon stepped down as chairman and Ek took on the chairman role while remaining CEO (announced October 2016).
Named most powerful person in music by Billboard
Billboard named Daniel Ek the most powerful person in the music industry (2017).
Spotify had raised over $2.5B in venture funding (by June 2017)
By mid‑2017 Spotify had raised in excess of $2.5 billion in venture capital across rounds.
Spotify expands into podcasts and new content verticals
Under Ek's leadership Spotify pushed into podcasting and audio content, investing heavily in podcast networks and exclusive deals (multi-year expansion starting ~2018).
Co‑founded Neko Health
Ek co-founded medical-technology startup Neko Health with Hjalmar Nilsonne (company founded 2018).
Spotify direct listing (DPO) on NYSE
Spotify went public via a direct public offering in April 2018; after the first day of trading market value was about $27 billion.
Founder shareholding snapshot (end of 2019)
Daniel Ek reported as owning ~17.4% of ordinary shares (Dec 31, 2019); MBW estimated that stake worth approx $4.8B at year-end market cap.
Reported 217 million active users (April 2019)
Spotify reported 217 million active users as of April 2019 (company earnings report).
Joe Rogan controversy and artist boycotts
Spotify's hosting of The Joe Rogan Experience led to high-profile artist boycotts (e.g., Neil Young, Joni Mitchell) and broader criticism of content moderation on the platform.
Q2 2020: 43,000 'top-tier' artists
Spotify reported 43,000 artists in its 'top tier' of earners by end of Q2 2020 (growth from previous years).
Music Ally interview draws criticism
Ek's 2020 interview discussing artist strategy prompted strong industry backlash and public responses from artists and producers.
Co‑founded Prima Materia (investment company)
Ek and investor Shakil Khan established Prima Materia in February 2021, pledging to invest $1 billion into European 'moonshots'.
Announced interest in buying Arsenal F.C.
Publicly expressed interest in purchasing Arsenal and later submitted a bid.
Submitted £1.8bn bid to buy Arsenal (rejected)
Made an offer to buy Arsenal FC for approximately £1.8 billion which Kroenke Sports & Entertainment rejected.
Portrayed in Netflix miniseries 'The Playlist'
Actor Edvin Endre portrayed Daniel Ek in the 2022 Netflix miniseries The Playlist about Spotify's rise.
Invested $50M to buy more Spotify shares
Ek personally invested an additional $50 million to acquire more Spotify shares, citing optimism for the company's future (May 2022).
Prima Materia invests in defence tech Helsing (early investor)
Prima Materia was an early investor in Helsing; Ek later became chairman of Helsing (reported 2023 onward).
Neko Health emerges from stealth
Neko Health came out of stealth in 2023 showcasing non-invasive full-body scanning using sensors and AI; Ek had co-founded in 2018 and self-funded early stages.
Artists protest Prima Materia/Helsing ties; music pulled from Spotify
Artists and bands (e.g., Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, King Gizzard) publicly protested Prima Materia's investment in Helsing and removed music from Spotify in protest (reported 2024–2025).
Neko Health expands to London and Stockholm
Company operations reported in Stockholm and London by 2024; Ek serves as chairman but not in daily operations.
Spotify begins releasing Loud & Clear remuneration reports
Spotify and Ek started releasing annual artist remuneration reports as part of the Loud & Clear initiative in response to criticism about payouts.
Posted controversial tweet on creation and 'long shelf life'
Ek tweeted about content creation and 'long shelf life', received criticism from artists and later clarified his comments; led to further dialogue around artist pay.
Forbes estimates net worth at $9.2B (May 2025)
Forbes reported Daniel Ek's net worth at approximately $9.2 billion (May 2025).
Prima Materia leads €600M investment in Helsing (reported)
Financial Times reported Prima Materia led a €600 million investment in German defense/AI drone company Helsing; Ek is chairman of Helsing and this led to artist protests and music removals.
Key Achievement Ages
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