Colour me surprised upon learning Daniel Ek, the founder of Spotify, doesn't take a salary from the company, while also being the single largest shareholder of Spotify as at 2022, with 16.6% total shares, amounting to about 31.93 million shares

At the then share price of around $161.82, Ek's shares add up to a mind-boggling $5.17 billion in value. Last week, Ek decided to sell 400,000 shares of his Spotify stock, raking in about $64 million for that transaction.

Interestingly, Ek received these 400,000 shares through a stock option exercise in 2020. In July, he also sold 675,000 shares worth over $100 million at the time. Both of these share sales were handled by a company called D.G.E Investments Limited, which is indirectly owned by Ek himself.

Ek did choose a good time to sell his shares, considering Spotify's share price is doing quite well, especially following its Q3 performance where it reported a profit. Spotify's market cap currently sits at a staggering $31.50 billion, with a peak share price of $179.84 back in mid-July.

Oh, if you missed it, Spotify is planning to change its royalty payout model in the first quarter of 2024. Have you heard?