Martin Lorentzon, who co-founded Spotify with Daniel Ek in 2006, says he would go away Sweden if the nation introduces a brand new tax on giant fortunes.
That’s in response to Bloomberg, which reported the Stockholm-based billionaire’s feedback on September 5.
Sweden votes in a basic election on Sunday (September 13), with taxation of the nation’s wealthiest one of many marketing campaign’s reside points.
“Sure, completely,” Lorentzon stated in emailed feedback to Bloomberg when requested whether or not he would take into account transferring. “I would favor to remain, however such a tax would imply I’ve to go away instantly.”
In keeping with the report, Lorentzon known as on politicians to take a look at larger taxes on capital or dividends as an alternative.
“It advantages nobody if entrepreneurs and job creators must promote elements of their firms to pay tax,” stated Lorentzon.
“It might imply fewer firms, fewer improvements, much less funding in areas comparable to environmental and local weather expertise, fewer taxpayers and fewer shared assets for welfare.
“The tax is straight counterproductive.”
“It might imply fewer firms, fewer improvements, much less funding in areas comparable to environmental and local weather expertise, fewer taxpayers and fewer shared assets for welfare.”
Martin Lorentzon, Spotify (by way of Bloomberg)
The feedback got here alongside an opinion piece Lorentzon wrote for Swedish newspaper Expressen, revealed the identical day, through which he set out his help for progressive taxation – however his opposition to an annual levy on wealth.
Lorentzon’s argument is that enormous fortunes are usually held as shares in firms moderately than as money, which would go away founders promoting down their very own companies to settle a tax invoice.
He returned to the topic two days later in written feedback to Swedish enterprise day by day Dagens Industri, reported by information company TT on September 7.
“Right now, entrepreneurs and enterprise builders are coming right here as a result of we now have a novel local weather for funding, creativity and experience,” Lorentzon wrote, in feedback translated from Swedish.
“A wealth tax that’s being mentioned within the election marketing campaign would drive individuals and funding away from right here.”
Sweden’s Left Celebration is campaigning for a tax on billionaires, whereas the Inexperienced Celebration has put ahead a separate levy on the wealthiest.
Each sit contained in the four-party opposition bloc led by the Social Democrats, which is polling forward of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s three-party authorities and the Sweden Democrats, who help it in parliament.
The scale of that lead is contested. In a ballot revealed on September 7, Novus put the opposition 2.4 factors clear, a niche the agency says sits inside its margin of error.
A ballot revealed the identical day by Ipsos for Swedish day by day Dagens Nyheter had the opposition 7.8 factors forward.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index places Lorentzon’s fortune at greater than USD $11 billion.
A big portion of that fortune has been transferring out of Spotify inventory and into money for a while.
Lorentzon bought USD $665.9 million of Spotify shares throughout two transactions in Could 2025, taking his cash-outs throughout 2024 and 2025 previous USD $1.2 billion at that time, in response to MBW’s evaluation of SEC filings.
The bigger of these gross sales ran via Rosello Firm Ltd, a Cyprus-registered holding firm owned by Almatea, a Luxembourg-based agency whose sole shareholder is Lorentzon.
Daniel Ek formally handed over the chief govt function at Spotify in the beginning of this yr, taking the title of Government Chairman as Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström grew to become co-CEOs.
In his memo to employees saying that transfer, Ek wrote that he wished to assist construct extra European “supercompanies” – a theme MBW examined on the time, alongside the argument amongst European enterprise leaders that the area is dropping floor to the US and China.
Lorentzon’s feedback concern his personal tax residency moderately than Spotify’s company base.
Sweden abolished its personal, broader-based wealth tax as of January 1, 2007.Music Enterprise Worldwide
