{"id":36473,"date":"2024-11-19T21:44:43","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T21:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radiantmedia.io\/?p=36473"},"modified":"2024-11-19T21:44:44","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T21:44:44","slug":"spotify-insiders-just-sold-almost-550-million-worth-of-company-stock-including-a-nearly-400-million-sale-from-co-founder-martin-lorentzon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ec2-34-197-49-85.compute-1.amazonaws.com\/?p=36473","title":{"rendered":"Spotify Insiders Just Sold Almost $550 Million Worth Of Company Stock, Including A Nearly $400 Million Sale From Co-Founder Martin Lorentzon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s a fantastic time to be a Spotify executive, as co-founder Martin Lorentzon, CEO Daniel Ek, and others have sold more than $550 million in company stock as shares continue to rise.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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The large Spotify stock selloff was revealed in a new set of SEC disclosures and comes after the company reported strong Q3 profits. While the relevant C-suite is not inexperienced with cashing in on business shares – we’ve chronicled such instances – previous insider trades have not been as substantial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, these previous deals were not made when Spotify’s price was approaching a record $500 per share. SPOT was trading around $460 at the time of writing, down from its 52-week high of roughly $490 but over 150% higher than its value in November 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The largest of the overpaid executives’ transactions (details below) came from Lorentzon, who received more than $383 million by selling about 960,000 shares. Ek sold $35.81 million in Spotify stock, while insiders’ SPOT sales totaled $550,501,616.72 (according to SEC filings from the 13th, 14th, and 15th).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ MORE: Spotify Triumphs Over Eminem\u2019s Publisher In Long-Running Mechanicals-Focused Lawsuit<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That stock-sale figure comes against the backdrop of Spotify’s continued diversification outside music, including podcasts, audiobooks, and now video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And, given that this diversification’s audiobook bundles have already saved Spotify more than $100 million that would have gone to composers and publishers, the optics of the transactions aren’t exactly great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, SPOT’s rise is less than favorable when seen in light of the big labels’ collapsing share prices, including Universal Music Group stock at $24.02\/\u20ac22.66 per share, showing a double-digit drop from the start of 2024 and, particularly, the year-to-date peak.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Of course, the firms’ archives play an important role on Spotify, despite the growing aggressive acceptance of non-music entertainment. Going into the new year, it remains to be seen whether superfan activities, neighboring “deluxe” plans, and potential price increases can help reverse the pattern of declining subscription-revenue growth at the majors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the grand scheme of things, the market leader Spotify’s shift toward various (apparently popular) formats does not bode well for the industry in the long run, for a variety of reasons, one of which is the inherent release-volume advantage video “content” has over music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ MORE: Spotify Officially Moves To Dismiss The MLC\u2019s \u2018Nonsensical And Factually Unsupportable\u2019 Unpaid-Royalty Lawsuit<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a complete breakdown of Spotify insiders\u2019 stock sales between November 13th and 15th.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

11\/13 \u2013 In the first of two transactions on the 13th, former CFO and current director Barry McCarthy sells 22,000 Spotify shares for $9,963,569.34.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCarthy also cashes in on 21,500 shares, attributable to the \u201cexercise of options under a registered plan\u201d finalized in March 2020, for $10,026,357.30. Then, on the 14th, the former Peloton head parts with 20,900 shares, acquired from TCV back in 2014, for $9,979,891.77.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11\/13 \u2013 General counsel Eve Konstan sells 16,234 stock-option shares for $7,340,722.47.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11\/13 \u2013 Chief business officer Alex Norstrom sells 39,911 stock-option shares for $17,959,951.68.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11\/13 \u2013 Director Shishir Mehrotra sells 7,987 shares (1,231 \u201cexercised\u201d and dating back to 2017, the remaining 6,756 stemming specifically from a fresh stock-option exercise) for $3,658,046.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11\/13 \u2013 Finance VP Benjamin Kung sells 7,092 shares (592 restricted, the other 6,500 from a stock-option exercise) for $3,240,630.88.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11\/13 \u2013 Director Heidi O\u2019Neill sells 2,219 restricted shares for $1,010,798.88.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11\/13 \u2013 Lorentzon\u2019s Rosello Company sells 959,762 founder\u2019s shares for $383,751,238.08.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11\/14 \u2013 Chief HR officer Katarina Berg sells 46,545 stock-option shares for $22,348,168.85.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11\/14 \u2013 CTO Gustav S\u00f6derstr\u00f6m sells 79,888 stock-option shares for $38,442,795.11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11\/14 \u2013 Director Mona Sutphen sells 6,696 stock-option shares for $3,133,401.04.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11\/14 \u2013 Director Thomas Staggs sells 7,959 stock-option shares for $3,833,545.32.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11\/15 \u2013 Ek sells 75,000 shares (purchased in 2016) for $35,812,500.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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