Pandora Confirms CEO Westergren Is OUT

Tim Westergren

Pandora today announced that Tim Westergren has decided to step down from his position as CEO and the board of directors will begin a search for a new CEO immediately. CFO Naveen Chopra was named interim CEO.

With these changes, Westergren will also no longer be a member of the Pandora Board of Directors. Pandora also announced today it has appointed Jason Hirschhorn to its board, filling a recently vacated seat.

On behalf of Pandora’s board, Roger Faxon, Pandora board member said, “Over the past several weeks, the board has taken a number of steps to refocus and reinforce Pandora. As listeners continue to move from traditional terrestrial radio to more dynamic and flexible offerings, it is the board’s belief that this transition continues to present a massive opportunity, and that Pandora is in an ideal position to capture an increasing share of this audience. With “digital radio” at the core of our business, and both “Plus” and “Premium” as new, integral parts of our arsenal, Pandora now has all of the tools necessary to capitalize on this opportunity. With our comprehensive suite of offerings and a refortified balance sheet, we will be able to more effectively recruit listeners, and we will be able to provide them with more of the content they want and the services they desire in order to better retain them.”

Pandora board member Tim Leiweke said, “On behalf of the entire board, I would like to thank Tim for his vision and his many years of leadership that have created one of the most recognized brands in streaming music today. Tim stepped in to be CEO at a critical time for the company and was quickly able to reset relations with the major labels, launch our on-demand service, reconstitute the management team and refortify our balance sheet by securing an investment from Sirius XM (SIRI). We support Tim’s desire to identify a new CEO for Pandora’s next stage.”

Westergren said, “I am incredibly proud of the company we have built. We invented a whole new way of enjoying and discovering music and in doing so, forever changed the listening experience for millions. I came back to the CEO role last year to drive transformation across the business. We accomplished far more than we anticipated. We rebuilt Pandora’s relationships with the music industry; launched a fantastic Premium on-demand service, and brought a host of tech innovations to our advertising business. With these in place, plus a strengthened balance sheet, I believe Pandora is perfectly poised for its next chapter.”