LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – Co-founder and Co-CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings has stepped down. He will remain an employee of the company, serving as Executive Chairman of the Board.
Co-CEO and former Chief Content Officer (CCO), Ted Sarandos and former Chief Product Officer (CPO) and Chief Operations Officer (COO), Greg Peters will now serve jointly as co-CEOs. Netflix has also named Bela Bajaria, formerly the Head of Global TV to CCO, while Scott Stuber, Head of Global Films, has the new title of Chairman of Netflix Film.
Hastings took to his Twitter account:
Ted & Greg are now co-CEOs. After 15 years together we have a great shorthand & I’m so confident in their leadership. Twice the heart, double the ability to please members & accelerate growth. Proud to serve as Executive Chairman for many years to come https://t.co/oYc0laqMXQ
— Reed Hastings (@reedhastings) January 19, 2023
Going forward, Hastings said in a blog post, he will be “helping Greg and Ted, and, like any good chairman, be a bridge from the board to our co-CEOs.” He added, “I’ll also be spending more time on philanthropy, and remain very focused on Netflix stock doing well.”
Sarandos said in a statement, “I want to thank Reed for his visionary leadership, mentorship, and friendship over the last 20 years. We’ve 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 more years to come.”
Regarding the promotions of Bajaria and Stuber, Sarandos had this to say: “Bela and Scott are outstanding creative executives with proven track records at Netflix. In 2022 we premiered many of our most popular series and films in Netflix history, including ‘Wednesday,’ ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,’ ‘Purple Hearts,’ ‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,’ ‘The Adam Project’ and ‘Harry & Meghan’ — a testament to their leadership and creativity. I couldn’t be more excited to work alongside them as we seek to delight audiences for years to come.”
Variety reports that with the title change, Hastings will take a huge pay cut: For 2023, as executive chairman, he’s eligible to receive a $500,000 base salary plus $2.5 million in stock options, according to a Netflix 8-K filing with the SEC. In the co-CEO role, he stood to make $34.7 million this year, mostly in stock.
Peters, meanwhile, will see his package increase from as much as $24 million previously to up to $34.65 million as co-CEO ($3 million annual salary, $17.325 million in options, and a $14.325 million performance-based target bonus).
