Netflix founder Reed Hastings steps down as co-CEO

Netflix announced that its founder, Reed Hastings, has stepped down as co-CEO. Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters are now co-CEOs of the streaming giant, while Reed Hastings is now the executive chairman.

Hastings, who founded Netflix in 1997, has been instrumental in building the company from a small DVD-by-mail service into a global streaming giant. Under his leadership, Netflix has disrupted the traditional television and film industries and has become one of the most successful and innovative companies in the world.

According to Hastings, “our board has been discussing succession planning for many years (even founders need to evolve!). As part of that process, we promoted Ted to co-CEO alongside me in July 2020, and Greg to Chief Operating Officer – and in the last 2½ years I’ve increasingly delegated the management of Netflix to them.”

“Starting today, Greg Peters will step up from COO to become Ted’s co-CEO. Going forward, I’ll be serving as Executive Chairman, a role that founders often take (Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, etc.) after they pass the CEO baton to others. Ted, Greg and I have been working closely together in different capacities for 15 years. As is common in long, effective relationships, we’ve all learned how to bring out the best in each other. I look forward to working with them in this role for many years to come.”

Netflix also announced Bela Bajaria as the new Chief Content Officer and Scott Stuber as Chairman of Netflix Film.

Netflix published its fourth quarter financial results showing a quarter revenue of more than $7.8 billion, up just 1.9% from the prior year. For 2022, the company finished with 231 million paid memberships and generated $32 billion of revenue, $5.6B in operating income.

Reed Hastings says he will “be spending more time on philanthropy, and remain very focused on Netflix stock doing well.”