Meghan Markle and Harry nightmare: Spotify CEO admits he got 'carried away' after signing Sussexes in lavish £15m deal

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's podcast could be at risk as Spotify is forced to make cuts after overspending on signing high-profile contributors to the platform.

In January it was announced that Dawn Ostroff, who was responsible for leading the negotiations on Meghan and Harry's three year-deal with Spotify which is worth an estimated £15million, had left the company.

Ek said: “In hindsight, I probably got a little carried away and over-invested relative to the uncertainty we saw shaping up in the market."

The company also spent a whopping £162million on securing Joe Rogan's podcast on a multi-year deal.

Meghan Markle has released a 12-part podcast series on Spotify
Dominic Lipinski

Spotify has invested more than £810million in building out its podcast business which currently has more than four million titles but that has eroded its gross margins.

In January, Ek announced that Ostroff, the streaming company's chief content and advertising officer had "decided to depart Spotify".

Spotify is reducing the headcount by around six per cent with around 600 jobs being axed.

Mr Ek, 39, said in a blog post: "I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth."

The restructuring will see Ostroff's role merged into the role of chief business officer.

Mr Ek added that the move would ensure "efficiency, cost controls and speed up decision-making".

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry signed their deal with Spotify in late 2020.

The Duchess of Sussex released a podcast series in 2022 named Archetypes with Meghan.

The series has 12 episodes and includes guest appearances from Serena Williams, Mariah Carey and Paris Hilton.

Spotify describes Archetypes with Meghan as "a podcast where we investigate, dissect, and subvert the labels that try to hold women back."