By Michael Elkins
Variety reports today, citing people familiar with the situation, that Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) senior podcast executive Max Cutler will be departing the company.
Cutler has been a part of Spotify’s team for nearly four years, previously serving as Spotify’s VP, head of talk creator content and partnerships. However, according to a source close to Spotify, the senior exec is leaving the streaming platform to “return his entrepreneurial roots” and form a start-up venture. Cutler will remain at Spotify until May 1.
With Cutler’s exit, Spotify head of global podcast studios Julie McNamara is assuming leadership of licensed podcast exclusives. McNamara reports to head of podcast business Sahar Elhabashi, who in turn reports up to co-president Alex Norström.
In another change, Bill Simmons, founder of The Ringer, will now report to Elhabashi, and in addition to continuing to lead The Ringer, will now be responsible for developing and growing podcast monetization across Spotify’s portfolio.
According to Spotify, there are no layoffs connected to the latest management changes.
Shares of SPOT are down 3.71% near end-of-day trading on Tuesday.