Eric Persson is a Swedish entrepreneur best known as the founder and former CEO of Epidemic Sound, a stock music company providing subscription-based royalty-free music to content creators. Based on his business success, many have wondered about Persson’s current net worth.
Epidemic Sound
Persson co-founded Epidemic Sound in 2009 alongside Otto Simonett, the company’s Chief Product Officer. Epidemic Sound provides affordable, easy-to-use copyright-cleared music for commercial use, targeted towards internet content creators and businesses that require soundtracks for marketing videos, advertisements, and more.
The company has become hugely popular, securing many notable influencer and corporate deals. In 2021, Epidemic Sound raised $450 million in funding and was valued at over $1 billion. As of 2022, Epidemic Sound’s catalog contains over 50,000 tracks from over 800 handpicked composers. The service has over 50,000 active paying customers globally.
Persson’s Role and Departure
As CEO, Persson was widely credited as the key strategist behind Epidemic Sound’s success. He focused the company’s offering on a targeted niche—internet content creators—rather than the traditional stock music customer base of business corporations and marketing agencies.
This early strategic choice gave Epidemic Sound first-mover advantage in a rapidly growing industry segment. As video content creation ballooned in the 2010s, so did Epidemic Sound’s customer base.
In mid-2022, Persson stepped down from the CEO post in a move described as amicable. He remains an owner but no longer manages Epidemic Sound’s daily operations.
Estimated Net Worth
As Epidemic Sound’s co-founder and first CEO, Persson is believed to maintain a significant but unspecified ownership stake.
Most sources estimate his net worth somewhere in the range of $300-$400 million. However, the true number is not openly publicized or confirmed. Given Epidemic Sound’s 2022 billion-dollar valuation, it’s likely that Persson holds hundreds of millions in equity. But beyond owning a portion of a multi-billion dollar viral company, less is known about Persson’s other investments and assets.
Like most private company founders, Persson’s true real-time net worth varies based on Epidemic Sound’s finances and valuation. Since he no longer works there day-to-day, his current net worth trajectory is unclear but unlikely to change as dramatically as when he managed the company.
Other Endeavors & Investments
Since leaving Epidemic Sound’s operational leadership, Persson keeps a relatively low profile outside of Sweden. Little is known about his recent investments or other companies he has founded.
However, while Epidemic Sound operates globally, Persson and his co-founder Otto Simmonett have also invested back into their native Sweden.
Spotify
Notable among these is Spotify, the music streaming giant founded in Sweden. Epidemic Sound and Spotify have a distribution partnership allowing artists to upload tracks to both platforms simultaneously.
Persson and Simonett were also early Spotify investors. It’s unknown how much equity they might still hold, but their Spotify stake represents another component of their cumulative wealth.
Given Spotify’s $22 billion market cap as of late 2022, Epidemic Sound’s founders likely hold tens or hundreds of millions in Spotify shares alone.
Other Investments
Persson has also invested substantially into Swedish real estate through a personal investment company. He is an active angel investor in multiple Swedish startups, especially other platforms related to media licensing and distribution.
Philanthropy
Like many wealthy entrepreneurs, Persson also directs some of his assets towards philanthropy. He and Epidemic Sound have provided funding, strategic advice, and other support to social entrepreneurs and youth education initiatives.
For example, after stepping down as CEO, Persson launched a nonprofit venture capital fund called Big Problems, focused on achieving societal impact alongside financial returns.
He explained the name as focusing investment on entrepreneurs working on “problems so big that politicians can’t fix them.” This signals that his nonprofit financing ambitions could be an increasing priority.
Persson also signed the Giving Pledge in 2021, promising to give away at least half his wealth during his lifetime or upon his death.
Future Trajectory
In summary, while Eric Persson’s exact net worth is undisclosed, reasonable estimates place it between $300-$400 million based primarily on his co-founding equity in Epidemic Sound. He likely also holds tens of millions in other Swedish startups like Spotify.
Now that he is no longer Epidemic Sound’s CEO, Persson’s net worth may not expand exponentially as it did during the 2010s. However, he remains majority owner in a firmly established billion-dollar company.
Going forward, Persson may focus more on Swedish angel investing, nonprofit funding, and philanthropic initiatives. Regardless, his net worth provides ample capital to pursue a wide array of business and charitable ventures over the coming years and decades.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Eric Persson best known for?
Eric Persson is best known for co-founding and serving as CEO of Epidemic Sound, a hugely successful stock music company now valued over $1 billion.
How much is Eric Persson worth?
While his exact net worth is private, reasonable estimates place Eric Persson’s net worth between $300-$400 million. The vast majority represents his founding ownership stake in Epidemic Sound.
What does Eric Persson do now?
In mid-2022, Persson stepped down as CEO of Epidemic Sound in what was described as an amicable transition. He remains majority owner but is no longer involved in the company’s daily operations. His current activities are undisclosed although he continues angel investing and philanthropy work.
What was Eric Persson’s role at Epidemic Sound?
Persson co-founded Epidemic Sound in 2009 and served as its Chief Executive Officer until mid-2022. As CEO he was widely praised for Epidemic Sound’s global growth and billion-dollar valuation.
Is Eric Persson Swedish?
Yes, Persson and Epidemic Sound co-founder Otto Simmonett are both natives of Sweden. While Epidemic Sound operates globally, some of Persson’s investments and philanthropic initiatives remain Sweden-based.
Conclusion
In his early 30s, Eric Persson remains one of Sweden’s most prominent entrepreneurial success stories. His co-founding of Epidemic Sound proved enormously lucrative, providing the runway for ongoing investing and philanthropy.
At still a young age and now without full-time executive obligations, Persson has decades ahead to pursue new Swedish startups, impact investing, charitable funding, and other ventures. While his net worth may fluctuate or prove somewhat lower than speculative peaks of $400 million, reasonable logic suggests his assets comfortably in the hundreds of millions.
Going forward it remains to be seen how Persson will manage this wealth. However his signing of the Giving Pledge indicates much will likely fund large-scale philanthropic initiatives during his lifetime or beyond. Regardless of specific plans, at not even 40 years old, Eric Persson retains ample opportunities to deploy his resources in transformative ways.
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