Sonos gets to keeps its CEO, as a treat

Sonos’ Very Bad 2024 is well documented. Its redesigned app endured a disastrous launch, to the extent that it was initially fundamentally broken. The company was then forced to delay two product launches in order to fix the botched software that its devices are so reliant on. And in the wake of the mess, the company’s then CEO Patrick Spence stepped down at the beginning of 2025. He was replaced by Tom Conrad on an interim basis, but after seemingly steadying what looked like a sinking ship, the former Snap executive has been handed the job permanently.

Conrad had been on the board of directors at Sonos since 2017 and conceded after taking the top job back in January that the company had "let far too many people down." Shortly after that he announced that around 200 jobs would be cut as part of a "reorganizing' of the company’s product division, before it reportedly canceled its long-rumoured video streaming device far into its development. This was followed by Sonos ending its partnership with IKEA in May.

Former CEO Patrick Spence said in an earnings call last year that the total cost of fixing the many issues with the Sonos app was between $20 and $30 million. In a significant recent update to its flagship Sonos Ace headphones, the company finally introduced the TrueCinema feature that was promised when the headphones launched in 2024. This uses a supported Sonos soundbar to measure the acoustics of your room and then channels the data into the delivery of spatial audio in the headphones, making it sound more convincing.

In a statement, Sonos’ now-permanent CEO said he was "excited to move from rebuilding to imagining the next generation of experiences."

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