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Spotify is firing 17pc of its staff to focus on efficiency and said it needs a CFO with a ‘different set of experiences’ to lead it into a new phase.
Spotify has confirmed that its CFO Paul Vogel will be leaving the company at the end of March 2024.
The music platform has already started a search for a replacement CFO. Spotify’s financial planning and analysis VP Ben Kung will take on “expanded responsibilities” in the meantime to support the realignment of the company’s financial team.
The announcement comes days after Spotify announced a massive batch of layoffs, with plans to cut 17pc – or roughly 1,500 staff – from its global operations. A filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission suggests Vogel sold millions of dollars in Spotify shares after job cuts announcement.
In a statement, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said he had spoken with Vogel “a lot” about the need to bring the company’s spending in line with market expectations while funding “significant growth opportunities”.
“We’ve come to the conclusion that Spotify is entering a new phase and needs a CFO with a different mix of experiences,” Ek said. “As a result, we’ve decided to part ways, but I am very appreciative of the steady hand Paul has provided in supporting the expansion of our business through a global pandemic and unprecedented economic uncertainty.”
Vogel joined Spotify in 2016 as its head of financial planning and analysis, treasury and investor relations. Prior to this role, he held various management positions with Barclays, OpenSky, Andor Capital Management and other companies.
He became CFO in January 2020, replacing Barry McCarthy and leading the company through the pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic and global economic uncertainty. Vogel has not issued a comment about his upcoming departure from Spotify.
Ek noted earlier this week that the scale of Spotify’s layoffs may surprise people, given the company’s recent earnings reports. Earlier this year, Spotify’s monthly active users shot up to 574m, a 26pc year-on-year increase. Revenue for Spotify’s third quarter went up by 11pc to €3.36bn.
Spotify said at the time that the jump in monthly active users represented its second largest third-quarter net addition performance in history.
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