Spotify CFO departure announced, days after $9.3m shares cash in and layoffs

Spotify has announced that its chief financial officer, Paul Vogel, is leaving the company soon after he cashed in $9.3 million (£7.4 million) in shares.

Vogel cashed in his Spotify shares as prices surged following last week’s layoffs of 1,500 Spotify employees in an effort to “reduce costs”, the Guardian reports. The day after the layoffs, Spotify share prices jumped 8% and held at the higher rate.

“Over time, we’ve come to the conclusion that Spotify is entering a new phase and needs a new chief financial officer with a different mix of experiences,” said co-founder and CEO Daniel E of Vogel, who worked for the Swedish streaming giant for eight years and was promoted to CFO in 2020. “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.”

As the Guardian clarifies, it is legal to sell shares after layoffs but it serves another blow to staff morale when leadership profits off colleagues’ job loss.

Spotify’s recent layoffs, which affected 17% of its workforce, come after a year of rumoured cost–reduction and profit-gaining measures were confirmed. The company expanded the controversial Discovery Mode, which offers lower royalty rates for more exposure, in March. Then in September, Spotify launched Showcase, which allows artists to buy sponsored spaces on the homepage. It’s since confirmed a new royalty policy for 2024 that enforces a minimum play count of 1,000 for tracks to be eligible for payouts, as well as a minimum length for “functional” non-music noise. 

This year, Spotify reported 200 million paid subscribers, becoming the first streaming platform to hit the milestone. It also launched an AI DJ function in the UK and Ireland with a “realistic” voiceover.