UMG Is Selling 50% Of Its Spotify Stake

Universal Music Group (UMG) will sell half of its equity stake in Spotify and use the proceeds to fund an expanded $1.167B  share buyback program, the company announced Wednesday alongside its Q1 2026 financial results.

The move comes just three weeks after Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square launched a $64 billion takeover bid for UMG that called for liquidating the company’s entire Spotify holding to help finance the deal. 

UMG’s board has not yet ruled on Ackman’s proposal.

A UMG press release confirmed that, consistent with its artist compensation policy, artists will share in the proceeds from the Spotify sale. UMG’s portion will initially support the buyback program.

This artist participation commitment originated in 2018. At Taylor Swift’s request that year, UMG agreed to distribute proceeds on a non-recoupable basis, aligning with a policy Sony Music had already adopted.

UMG currently holds 6,487,000 Spotify shares, representing a 3.10% stake valued at $3.2B at the end of 2025. Half of that stake was worth approximately $1.4B based on Spotify’s closing price on April 28, before the streaming service’s shares dropped sharply following disappointing Q2 guidance.

The expanded buyback doubles the $500M program announced on March 30. The additional requires shareholder approval at UMG’s Annual General Meeting on May 13.

UMG’s board believes the company’s share price is undervalued relative to its performance and prospects. “The important steps we are announcing today to increase our share buyback authorization and monetize a portion of our equity stake in Spotify will lead to enhanced shareholder value while maintaining the flexibility the Company requires to drive further success,” said CFO Matt Ellis.