Hastings said it was “the right time to find a replacement”. The co-founder of the platform intends to continue to sit on the supervisory board of the giant, but he also wants to focus more “on charity”.
The Financial Times notes that the change comes after a very rough year for the platform. Netflix lost more than a third of its market valuation during this time.
The platform will now be managed by Greg Peters, the current COO, and Ted Sarandos, who led the programming offer Netflix. The change is to be made “with instant effect”. According to Hastings, the change was “prepared for many years”.
“I’m proud of our first 25 years and excited about the next quarter century ahead for us,” the outgoing Netflix CEO wrote.
Hastings founded Netflix in 1997. Initially, the company sent its subscribers movies on DVD. In 2007, a streaming platform was created that changed the rules of the game in the entire film and television market. Interestingly, in many markets Netflix still offers a subscription to DVD movies (although this does not apply to the Polish market).
Originally, Netflix sent subscribers movies on DVD. This changed in 2007.
|
BlueMint / Wikimedia Commons
Netflix’s worse results recently can be explained by growing competition. The company was for a long time the only serious player on the streaming market. Over time, however, giants such as Disney, Amazon and HBO have invested heavily in their services.
At the end of December 2022, the platform had approximately 231 million subscribers worldwide.
Analysts emphasize that although last year was difficult for the platform, the last quarter can be considered quite successful. The service gained 7.6 million new users, although experts expected it to be rather around 4.5 million. The forecasts were helped by such hits as “Harry & Meghan” or “Wednesday”.
“Forbes” estimates the current fortune of Reed Hastings at about $ 3.3 billion. The entrepreneur is 62 years old, married with two children and permanently residing in Satna Cruz, California.
See also: Advertisements, boredom, bulk. The golden age of streaming is over
