Spotify founder Daniel Ek has revealed that Arsenal FC has rejected his bid to buy the club.
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Last month, after thousands of angry fans amassed outside the club’s Emirates Stadium amid the fallout from the proposed European Super League, Ek said he would be interested in buying Arsenal if it ever went up for sale.
“As a kid growing up, I’ve cheered for @Arsenal as long as I can remember,” he wrote on Twitter at the time. “If KSE would like to sell Arsenal I’d be happy to throw my hat in the ring.”
This evening (May 15), Ek released a statement on Twitter to deny “inaccurate reports” that he hadn’t make an offer for the club.
“This week an offer was made to both Josh Kroenke and their bankers that included fan ownership, representation at board and a golden share for the supporters,” he wrote.
“They replied that they don’t need the money. I respect their decision but remain interested and available should that situation ever change.”
Following reports today I want to correct the record with attached statement pic.twitter.com/CzfF0Y76K4
– Daniel Ek (@eldsjal) May 15, 2021
Ek, who founded Spotify in 2006 is estimated to be worth £3.4billion, reportedly recruited Arsenal legends Thierry Henry, Patrick Viera and Dennis Bergkamp in a bid to buy the club from beleaguered owner Stan Kroenke.
According to Sky Sports, Ek is open to the idea of having fan representation on the Arsenal board, including the concept of giving supporters a “golden share”, which would provide influence in key decisions.
Ek’s takeover plans were also met with hostility from musicians such as Tim Burgess, who suggested that Ek fixed Spotify’s oft-criticised model of paying artists before he ventures into sports ownership.
Meanwhile, over 180 musicians have signed an open letter taking a stand against Spotify’s speech monitoring patent.
The streaming company had a patent approved earlier this year for a piece of technology that can monitor and record both users’ speech and background noise to help curate music for Spotify users.
