Spotify Loses Global Partnerships Director in Stockholm Terror Attack

Image issued by Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO)

Spotify executive Chris Bevington was among the four victims who died in the fatal Stockholm terror attack.

Last Friday, a man hijacked a lorry and drove it into a department store in Stockholm. According to investigators, the 39-year-old suspect, originally an immigrant from the central Asian republic of Uzbekistan, targeted young children. The truck swerved from side to side to hit people and ultimately embedded itself into the window of a department store.

Moments after, the suspect sent messages to ISIS members detailing the attack, boasting that he had run over ten people. Intelligence agencies knew about the man, but unfortunately, failed to stop him.

The terror attack killed four people, including a Spotify executive, and injured 15 people.

The attack came weeks after an English-born terrorist brutally attacked and killed four Londoners and injured twenty others. A similar attack occurred in Paris less than a year ago. Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a Tunisian resident in France, drove a lorry into a crowd of people, killing eighty-six people. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack that coincided with Bastille Day celebrations.

Chris Bevington was among the four victims who perished in the fatal Stockholm terror attack.

The British national had worked at Spotify for five years as the Director of Global Partnerships/Business Development. The 41-year-old was based out of Stockholm along with his family.

His father, John Bevington, said in a statement,

“We are all devastated by the untimely and tragic death of our talented, compassionate and caring son Chris.
“A wonderful husband, son, father, brother and close friend to many. The family requests absolute privacy at this incredibly difficult time to mourn his passing in peace.”

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek also released a statement on Facebook.

“It is with shock and a heavy heart that I can confirm that Chris Bevington from our Spotify team lost his life in Friday’s senseless attack on Stockholm.

Chris has been a member of our band for over 5 years. He has had a great impact on not just the business but on everyone who had the privilege to know and work with him. There are no words for how missed he will be or for how sad we all are to have lost him like this.

Whilst this terrible news is sinking in, our primary focus is on supporting the family and loved ones of Chris in any way we possibly can.

I am as deeply saddened and upset as all of you that something like this could happen in Sweden. The only light in this deeply tragic moment is the outpouring of love, compassion and solidarity that we have seen from everyone. And that was exactly the kind of person Chris was as well.