Spotify's Lee Brown joins DoorDash as chief revenue officer

• DoorDash acquired Symbiosys, a self-serve ad platform, earlier this year. In 2024, the delivery giant crossed an annualized ad revenue run rate of over $1 billion globally.
• Brown will report to DoorDash's president and chief operating officer Prabir Adarkar, a DoorDash spokesperson confirmed.

Zoom out: Spotify is looking to invest more in automating its ad business as its user base scales globally.

• Two Spotify ad executives — Per Sandell, vice president of product management, and Brian Berner, head of global advertising sales and partnerships — will serve as temporary co-leads of the ad business following Brown's departure, a Spotify spokesperson confirmed.
• The company will conduct an external and internal search for a permanent leader.

Catch up quick: Brown joined Spotify in 2019 from BuzzFeed, where he served as chief revenue officer.

• Under his leadership, Spotify more than doubled its ad business and introduced a slew of new products and partnerships to help automate advertising on the platform.
• Most notably, Brown's team launched the Spotify Ad Exchange in April, allowing marketers to buy ad inventory in a programmatic, or automated, fashion.
• Spotify's ad business is expected to surpass $2 billion in total revenue globally this year.