Co-founder and CEO of Netflix steps down

In a statement Netflix announced that Reed Hastings, co-founder and chief executive, is stepping down after running the company for 25 years. Netflix shares fell by 3.2 percent after the announcement but they started to climb up again. Chief Operating Officer, Greg Peters has been named as the new co-CEO alongside Ted Sarandos, who has held that role since 2020.

Hastings explained that this move is part of his long term plan. He said, “Ted and Greg have developed great trust and respect for each other through their collective successes and failures.” He added “they can always be relied upon to put Netflix’s interests first. These qualities-combined with their complementary skill sets, deep knowledge of entertainment and technology, and proven track record at Netflix – create a unique opportunity to deliver faster growth and greater success long term with them as co-CEOs.”

Netflix post pandemic

Netflix lost millions of subscribers after the pandemic boom. However it announced that it added 7.7 million subscribers exceeding expectations during the last quarter of 2022, with revenue rising 1.9 percent to US $11.43 billion. Netflix began rolling out its gaming service in November 2021, allowing players with an active Netflix subscription to jump into a set of mobile games for no extra cost.? The video and game streaming service today offers content to 222 million members worldwide.

Reed Hastings

Hastings grew Netflix from a retail outlet and mail order video rental business into a global streaming giant. He owns 2 percent of Netflix. He co-founded the company in 1995.

As a result of stepping down as co-CEO, Hastings will take a huge pay cut. According to a Netflix 8-K filing with the SEC, Hastings is eligible to receive a $500,000 base salary plus $2.5 million in stock options for 2023. In his role as CEO he was making around? US$ 34.7 million, mostly in stock. Until 2012 Hastings sat on the bord of directors of Facebook and Microsoft.

Hastings′ father was a lawyer who represented the Nixon administration . He studied math at Bowdoin College and consequently served in the Peace Corps in Swaziland. ?Hastings graduated from Stanford University.

He is married to Patty Quillan and the couple have two children. Hastings and his wife Patty are known for supporting and donating $120 million to the ‘United Negro College Fund′. Besides this they are known for being supporters and donners of the Biden administration.

History of Netflix

The video and game streaming service offers content to 222 million members worldwide.

Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, it also owns an in-house production company known as Netflix Originals. The company ranks 115 on the Fortune 500 and it is the largest entertainment company by market capital. During one of its peaks in 2010, Netflix was the top-performing stock in the S&P 500 stock market index, with a total return of 3,693 percent.

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