Netflix Co-CEO Reed Hastings will remain with the company he co-founded, but he will leave his position at the very top.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix announced that Hastings would step down from his job as Netflix's Co-CEO, a position he shared with Ted Sarandos since 2020. Sarandos will now share CEO duties with Greg Peters, formerly chief operation officer (COO). In other shuffles, Bela Bajaria has been promoted to chief content officer, and Scott Stuber has been named chairman of Netflix Film. Hastings will not altogether leave the company but stay on board as executive chairman. Peters is also expected to join the board.
For the time being, Hastings' exit appears less contentious than last year's dramatic reversal of power at the head of Disney. According to all involved, the change in Netflix's leadership came not abruptly, as Peters has successively taken over more responsibilities at the streamer. "It was a baptism by fire, given COVID and recent challenges within our business," Hastings commented. "But [Sarandos and Peters] both managed incredibly well, ensuring Netflix continues to improve and developing a clear path to reaccelerate our revenue and earnings growth. So the board and I believe it's the right time to complete my succession."
Sarandos said in a statement: "I want to thank Reed for his visionary leadership, mentorship and friendship over the last 20 years. Since Reed started to delegate management to us, Greg and I have built a strong operating model based on our shared values and like-minded approach to growth. I am so excited to start this new chapter with Greg as Co-CEO."
Netflix Is Ever-Changing
According to a securities filing, Hastings' transition to executive chairman and Peters' promotion to Co-CEO were effective as of Jan. 13. With their changes in roles, Hastings will take a pay cut from $34.6 million to an estimated $3 million, while Peters will earn an estimated $33.6 million.
Hastings co-founded Netflix with Marc Randolph as a mail-based DVD rental service in 1997 and transformed it into the world's first high-profile streaming service. After seeing tremendous growth through the early COVID pandemic, business slowed down last year. The company lost subscribers for the first time in its history, partly due to a more crowded field of competitors. Netflix is trying to regain ground by introducing a cheaper tier that includes commercials, a strategy that other streamers are also implementing.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter