As Spotify’s stock price continues to hit new highs, the company’s executives and directors continue selling shares and stock options.
The latest to cash in on the Spotify stock boom is Barry McCarthy, the company’s former Chief Financial Officer and a current director on its board.
According to an SEC filing, McCarthy sold 15,033 stock options for $9.49 million on Monday (February 10).
The filing shows that, in all, he cashed out just upwards of $49 million in Spotify shares in six transactions over the past three months.
McCarthy served as CFO of Spotify until early 2020, when he stepped down after five years at the Sweden-headquartered company, taking a seat on the board at the time.
He served as CEO of exercise equipment and media company Peloton from 2022 to 2024, ushering it through a difficult post-pandemic period for the company.
Spotify’s share price closed at USD $623.15 on Tuesday (February 11), up over 165% over the past 12 months. SPOT’s closing price the previous day (Monday, February 10) was $637.69, an all-time high.
SPOT’s market cap value as of 4pm ET on Tuesday (February 11) was around $125 billion. By comparison, Universal Music Group, the largest of the three major music companies, is currently valued at around $51 billion.
Spotify’s latest spike in shares came after the company reported its first full year of profitability in 2024, with an operating income of $1.5 billion.
In November, MBW reported that Spotify leadership had sold some $1 billion in company stock year-to-date. That included $556.8 million sold by co-founder Martin Lorentzon, who remains the company’s largest shareholder.
As of that point, co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek had sold $283 million in Spotify stock. In December, Ek sold another $93 million in shares, and just since the start of the year, SEC filings show he has cashed in another $94.4 million in shares, including some $37 million last week (February 5).
Ek has been selling shares in tranches of 60,000, with each tranche garnering a higher selling price than the last.
Here are the other directors and execs who have sold Spotify shares since the start of 2025, according to SEC filings:
- Gustav Soderstrom, Chief Product and Technology Officer, sold 52,031 stock options on February 7 for $32.68 million.
- Katarina Berg, Chief Human Resources Officer, sold 19,656 stock options on February 5 for $11.89 million.
- Alex Norstrom, Chief Business Officer, sold 12,000 stock options on February 7 for $7.52 million.
- Mona Sutphen, a director on Spotify’s board, sold 3,031 stock options on February 5 for $1.89 million.
- Christopher Marshall, a director on Spotify’s board, sold 2,520 shares on February 10 for $1.57 million.
- Eve Mothner, Spotify’s General Counsel, sold 1,019 stock options on February 5 for $632,000.
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