Spotify‘s most recent valuation weighed in at a whopping $13bn in the wake of its recent licensing deals with Universal and Merlin.
That’s according to a new report from Reuters, which says the business is pressing ahead with its plan to directly list shares on the New York Stock Exchange later this year or early in 2018.
Here’s how a $13bn Spotify valuation – which comes despite no new licensing deals yet being agreed with Sony and Warner – might affect Daniel Ek‘s ultimate payday.
According to credible financial estimates from late last year, Ek owned around $825m in shares in Spotify at a $8bn company valuation.
Hi co-founder Martin Lorenzton was thought to have owned a $1bn stake.
That works out at a 10.3% holding for Ek, and a 12.5% equivalent for Lorenzton.
So long as the pair have held onto their equity, those holdings would – at a $13bn company – be worth $1.34bn (Ek) and $1.63bn (Lorenzton).
In another new report today, the Financial Times says that Spotify has hired advisers to help it carry out a direct listing on the NYSE.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Allen & Co have all apparently been contracted to help the streaming company pull off a direct listing – which would allow it to float without the need for fundraising. (The Reuters report also cites these names.)
A direct listing would see Spotify make its existing shares directly available to the public, bypassing the traditional IPO method of using banks to market and sell the shares.
Universal Music Group has recently been valued at €20bn ($22bn) by certain investment banks, according to parent Vivendi.Music Business Worldwide
