The founder of the streaming service is Daniel Ek, 35 years-old, a precocious and serial entrepreneur
Spotify listed on the Stock Exchange. History of its founder Daniel Ek
It is among the most popular music streaming services in the world. 157 million active users and 71 million subscribers in 60 countries. Launched in Stockholm in 2008, the former start-up, which became a business was listed on Wall Street on 3rd April. Good debut: in closing the value of the share was 149.01 dollars, an increase of 13% with respect to the reference price of the Nyse. The capitalisation thus reached 26.5 billion dollars. Spotify was not listed with an Ipo (initial public offering) but with the direct listing mechanism.
The story of Daniel Ek
The founder of the streaming service is Daniel Ek, 35 years-old, a precocious and serial entrepreneur. His passion for music and technology dates back to his childhood: at 5 years old, Daniel received his first computer and a guitar. At 14 he set up first start-up. It made commercial websites, recruiting classmates. He positioned the servers in his bedroom so as not to miss even a second. A short time later he sent his curriculum to Google, but the company wouldn’t take him on because he didn’t have a degree. After high school he founded Advertigo, the online advertising company bought in 2006 by Martin Lorentzon (later the co-founder of Spotify). He thus earned his first million dollars.
Millionaire, gives up everything for music
At 23 years old Ek is rich, he has a Ferrari and a beautiful house, but he is not happy. So he gets rid of everything, home and luxury car, he takes refuge in a studio flat and concentrates on one single objective: how to make music his life. He finds a way that combines his passions. After their first meeting, Ek and Martin decide to create a legal Napster, they look for an alternative to piracy that makes the songs accessible to all. They work on the project for two years. In 2008 Spotify is created. The service was launched in seven European countries on 7th October and since then has spread all over the world. Today Ek is considered one of the most important entrepreneurs in the music sector. The Financial Timescalls him a “rock star in the tech world”.