By bizn_fun 
When it was founded in Sweden in 2006, Spotify said it aimed to address widespread piracy issues that were plaguing the music industry, using advertising and money from subscriptions to pay rights holders for music popular on the platform.
Its grip on listeners has grown as it expanded into podcasts and audio books, though the firm’s dominance has prompted frequent clashes with musicians, who have criticised its payment practices.
The company’s rise has also turned Mr Ek into a billionaire, with a fortune of about $10bn.
He has ploughed some of those riches into a European venture capital firm, which has backed firms such as Germany’s Helsing, which develops weapons systems powered by artificial intelligence.
This investment in Helsing, which Ek also leads as executive chairman, prompted some artists, including Deerhoof and Massive Attack, to launch a boycott of Spotify earlier this year.
Announcing its decision last month, Massive Attack said Spotify had long placed an “economic burden” on artists, which was “now compounded by a moral and ethical burden, whereby the hard-earned money of fans and the creative endeavours of musicians ultimately funds lethal, dystopian technologies”.
“Enough is more than enough,” the band said.