Spotify co-founder Martin Lorentzon has said he would leave Sweden "immediately" if the country introduces a wealth tax, wading into a live issue in Sweden's general election campaign ahead of the vote on 13 September. According to Bloomberg, which reported his emailed comments on 5 September, Lorentzon said he would prefer to stay but a wealth levy would force his hand, and he urged politicians to consider higher taxes on capital or dividends instead, arguing a wealth tax would push entrepreneurs to sell down their companies, reducing investment, innovation and welfare funding.

Lorentzon, whose fortune the Bloomberg Billionaires Index puts at over $11 billion, expanded on his opposition in an opinion piece for Expressen and later comments to Dagens Industri, framing himself as supportive of progressive taxation but against an annual levy on wealth held mainly in shares. The Left Party and Green Party, both within the opposition bloc led by the Social Democrats, have proposed taxes targeting billionaires or the wealthiest, with polls diverging on the opposition's lead over Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's government (2.4 points per Novus, 7.8 points per Ipsos). Separately, Lorentzon has sold over $1.2 billion in Spotify shares across 2024 and 2025, moving much of his wealth into cash; Sweden itself abolished its previous wealth tax in 2007.