Pandora's founder CEO has stepped down
Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Columbia Records
The board will begin searching for candidates to fill the position, and CFO Naveen Chopra will serve as interim CEO. Westergren, who cofounded Pandora back in 2000, will also no longer serve on Pandora's board of directors.
This news comes on the heels of a $480 million investment from Sirius XM earlier this month, which will give the satellite-radio powerhouse 19% of Pandora, in addition to three board seats. At the same time, Pandora announced it would unload Ticketfly - the ticketing startup it paid $335.3 million in stock and cash for in 2015 - to Eventbrite for $200 million.
Westergren took over the CEO role last March, mostly to guide the company's launch of its on-demand competitor to Spotify and Apple Music, which completed its rollout in April. The $9.99-a-month service, called Pandora Premium, was meant to wring money out of Pandora's massive user base in a more effective way than its ad-supported product. Grumblings are, however, that Sirius XM has little interest in this service.
Pandora's stock was flat following the news.
- US buys 81 Soviet-era combat aircraft from Russia's ally costing on average less than $20,000 each, report says
- 2 states where home prices are falling because there are too many houses and not enough buyers
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
- Bengaluru's rental income highest in Q1-2024, Mumbai next: Anarock report
- Rupee falls 10 paise to settle at 83.48 against US dollar
- Include 4 hrs of physical activity, 8 hrs sleep in routine for optimal health, suggests study
- 11 must-visit tourist places in Nainital in 2024
- Indegene's ₹1,842 crore IPO to open on May 6