Daniel Ek

Daniel Georg Ek is a Swedish businessman and technologist. He is the founder and executive chairman of Spotify. As of August 2026, his net worth was estimated at $12.5 billion by Forbes.

• Daniel Ek is the cofounder of streaming music service Spotify and remained its CEO through 2025.
• He announced plans to assume the role of executive chairman in 2026, focusing more on the company's long-term strategy.
• Ek and his business parter Martin Lorentzon founded the company in 2006 in Sweden, and launched the product in 2008.
• Today, Spotify boasts over 696 million users and 276 million subscribers across 184 markets.
• In September 2021, Ek pledged to invest 1 billion euros in European technology, cofounding VC firm Prima Materia
• Ek is also a cofounder of Neko Health, a medical tech firm that specializes in preventative scans to promote early disease detection; in 2026, the Stockholm-based company raised $700 million at a $7 billion valuation.