Spotify CFO departs streaming service after selling $9m in shares

NEW YORK (AP):

Spotify’s chief financial officer will step down next year, according to the music streaming service, just days after it announced its third round of layoffs for 2023.

In a statement announcing CFO Paul Vogel’s departure, CEO Daniel Ek said that the two had “come to the conclusion that Spotify is entering a new phase and needs a CFO with a different mix of experiences”.

Spotify said last week that it would be axing 17 per cent of its global workforce, citing the need to slash costs and become profitable. About 1,500 people will lose their jobs, a spokesperson confirmed.

Shortly after the layoffs were announced last Monday, Spotify’s stock jumped about eight per cent. The following day, Vogel moved to sell more than $9.3 million worth of shares, according to securities filings.

Two other senior executives also cashed in over $1.6 million in shares, The Guardian reported.

Vogel will leave Spotify on March 31. Vice President of financial planning and analysis, Ben Kung, will fill in as Spotify searches for a successor externally, the company said.

Stockholm-based Spotify posted a net loss of 462 million euros (about US$500 million) for the nine months to September. The company announced in January that it was axing six per cent of total staff. In June, it cut staff by another two per cent, or about 200 workers, mainly in its podcast division.