Mr. Hastings will take over as executive chairman of the massive streaming company. As co-CEO, Greg Peters will work with Ted Sarandos.
One of Netflix’s founders, Reed Hastings, has been in charge of the organization since its business model revolved around shipping DVDs before becoming a streaming service.
Mr Hastings announced on Thursday that he is stepping down from his co-chief executive position and taking on the role of executive chairman of the company after spending the past 25 years transforming Netflix into the world’s first major streaming company and the rest of the world has dragged along. the media industry with him.
Greg Peters, who is now the company’s COO and CPO, will take his place as Netflix’s new co-CEO, working alongside Ted Sarandos. Since 2020, Mr. Sarandos holds the position.
According to Mr Hastings, 62, the restructuring of the management was part of a long-awaited succession plan. He cited Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos as examples of other company founders moving into chairmanship positions “after they have passed the baton to others” when announcing the change.
“Over the past two and a half years, I’ve increasingly delegated management of Netflix to them,” Mr Hastings said in a statementnoting that Mr. Sarandos and Mr. Peters have addressed the challenges of the pandemic and the upheavals in the streaming industry. He added, “The board and I believe that now is the right time to finalize my succession.”
“I will help Greg and Ted and, like any good chairman, be a bridge from the board to our co-CEOs. I will also spend more time on philanthropy and remain very focused on doing well for Netflix stock.”
Reed Hastings steps down as CEO of Netflix to become executive chairman of the board, a title that retains its power.
Ted Sarandos has a new co-CEO, Greg Peters, who launched his ad-supported company. https://t.co/kAJSrswkeR
— Edmund Lee (@edmundlee) January 19, 2023
Later, in a video interview with investors, Mr. Hastings said that Netflix’s board had begun considering the succession plan about a decade ago. He explained, “This formally confirms how we’ve been operating for at least the last couple of quarters.”
Bela Bajaria, the company’s global head of television, has been named chief content officer and Scott Stuber, the global head of cinema, has been retitled chairman of Netflix Film.
“We have all learned so much from his intellectual rigor, honesty and willingness to take big bets – and we look forward to working with him for many years to come.” Mr. Sarandos said about Mr. Hastings. “Since Reed began delegating management to us, Greg and I have built a strong operating model based on our shared values and like-minded approach to growth.”
With the report on Netflix’s fourth quarter results came the news of Mr. Hastings. The company reported adding 7.7 million members, up from the estimated 4.5 million, attributing the increase to good content in the fourth quarter.
According to Netflix, there are currently over 231 million subscribers worldwide. Despite the dismal first half of the year in which it lost more than a million customers, Netflix ended 2022 with more subscribers than at the beginning of the year.
In the fourth quarter, Netflix earned approximately $7.85 billion in revenue, up nearly 2 percent from the prior year period. Earnings for the company were about $55 million, down 90% from the previous year.
Aftermarket trading saw Netflix’s share price rise more than 6%
Netflix claimed in a letter to shareholders that their ad-supported subscription has increased customer engagement and subscriber growth. According to the company, few customers have switched from other plans and consumers and advertisers are excited about the choice.
In the first quarter of 2023, Netflix has not issued guidance on new subscribers, following a statement last year that it would stop providing those much-anticipated updates to investors. As Netflix’s streaming business has grown, investors and analysts have focused on revenue growth and profits. However, the company expected revenue to grow 4% in the quarter, with subscriber growth in the second quarter of this year to be more robust than the first.
In its letter, Netflix, known for citing sleep as one of its biggest rivals, acknowledged that it faces competition from streaming rivals and new platforms like TikTok. It also included other competitors for potential customers, including conventional television, YouTubeand video games.
Netflix’s Reed Hastings will relinquish co-chef role – Mr. Hastings will become the executive chairman of the streaming giant. Greg Peters will join Ted Sarandos as co-chief executive. #Leadership #DIRECTOR #Netflix https://t.co/d6xYYiXA0f pic.twitter.com/C51qeMsiHs
— Antonio Vieira Santos (@AkwyZ) January 19, 2023
Netflix’s $6.99 a month ad tier was a major turnaround for the streaming service, whose management, chief among them Mr. But investors warmed by the company’s previous subscriber losses have flocked to the plan, which debuted in November.
Netflix announced on Wednesday that their 2023 movie schedule will feature 49 movies, including animated and foreign-language movies. This is less than in 2022, when the company’s goal of releasing a movie every week led to the production of 61 live action movies in English, five animated movies, three anime movies and 17 live action movies in other languages .
Highlights for 2023 include David Fincher’s thriller “The Killer” starring Michael Fassbender; “Rebel Moon” by Zack Snyder; and David Yates’ “Pain Hustlers,” starring Emily Blunt, which the company reportedly bought for $50 million from the Cannes Film Festival last year. With sequels to “Murder Mystery” and “Extraction” also set to premiere in 2023, Netflix is fulfilling its promise to franchise its programming.
Previously unchallenged in the online video streaming market, Netflix now faces well-funded rivals such as Disney, Comcast, and Warner Bros. Discovery, on whose programming it previously depended. Because of this rivalry and an increasingly saturated US market, Netflix has been forced to seek members abroad, tackle password sharing and roll out its advertising strategy.
In a letter to shareholders, Netflix said it wanted to grow its subscriber base through new programs such as “paid sharing,” which allows people to add people to accounts for a fee.
NEWS: Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings is stepping down from his role as co-chief executive. of @nicsperling https://t.co/vnUvOAJwN2
— Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) January 19, 2023
Netflix also highlighted the popularity of several of its most recent productions, such as the television series “Wednesday” and the movie “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”, which was shown in a few US cinemas before its release on Netflix. A period detective mystery starring Christian Bale and Harry Melling, called “The Pale Blue Eyes,” was also added to Netflix’s streaming lineup last quarter.
In 1997, Mr. Hastings and Marc Randolph co-launched Netflix as a mail-order movie rental service. Before that, Mr. Hastings had successfully built a pure software company. The two established a corporate culture of “radical honesty” to the point where Mr. Hastings in 1998 Mr. Randolph gave a PowerPoint presentation explaining why he was no longer qualified to serve as CEO.
Since then, Mr. Hastings has played a vital role in the company’s transition to streaming. Despite repeating the phrase frequently “There will be no advertising on Netflix. Period,” it finally happened.
The only serious blemish on Mr. Hastings’ record was Qwikster, the company’s short-lived DVD division it created to differentiate itself from its streaming service. One million members dropped out of the service after a month because they were unhappy with the price increase caused by the splitting of the service into two parts.
that of Netflix @reedhastings Will Cede Co-Chief Executive Role. Greg Peters joins Ted Sarandos as co-chief executive. of @BenMullin https://t.co/gtIxWNdlUh
— Nicole Sperling (@nicsperling) January 19, 2023
Netflix was criticized for removing a comedy episode from its Saudi Arabia stream in late 2018 for being critical of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and violating Saudi censorship laws. The attack in question was “Patriot Act”, starring Hasan Minhaj. In answer, Mr Hastings stated: “We are not trying to put the truth in power. We try to entertain.”
When critics inside and outside the company claimed that comedian Dave Chappelle’s 2021 stand-up special fueled prejudice against transgender people, the company backed him. Several employees staged a strike against Netflix’s choice to keep its content online.
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