Netflix Founder Reed Hastings Stepping Down As CEO (reuters.com) 14
Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings announced on Thursday he will step down as chief executive, handing the reins of the streaming service to his longtime partner and co-CEO, Ted Sarandos, and the company's chief operating officer, Greg Peters. Reuters reports: Sarandos and Peters will share the title of chief executives, with Hastings serving as executive chairman. The change is effective immediately, representing the culmination of a decade of succession planning by the board. Both Peters and Sarandos were promoted in July 2020, amid a challenging time for the company. "It was a baptism by fire, given Covid and recent challenges within our business," Hastings wrote in a blog post announcing his departure. "But they've both managed incredibly well ... so the board and I believe it's the right time to compete my succession."
Those were the days (Score:2)
Re:Those were the days (Score:5, Interesting)
The cratering stock price of NFLX probably has more to do with Wall Street's perception of the company than anything Reed Hastings did. The company grew and grew for years and had a P/E ratio that assumed that it would continue to grow for years. Eventually, just about everyone that might want Netflix was subscribing to Netflix and suddenly growth dried up. On top of that, competitors with enormous legacy content libraries entered the market, making Netflix just one choice in a sea of competitors.
I don't really see what Reed Hastings could have done to avoid either problem. It's not like he could keep competitors out of the market and it's not like he could create more people to sell Netflix to. I guess he could have tempered expectations a little bit more for Wall Street.
Re:Those were the days (Score:5, Insightful)
What should have happened is something akin to this [wikipedia.org], but replace "move theaters" with "streaming services." That is: either you create content, but can not show (stream) it directly to viewers, or you show (stream) it, but can not create it. Hence Disney (just to pick an example) shouldn't be allowed to have Disney+.
There's also an analog in the music world in that anybody can license any song. Record companies can't silo their content. This is why services like iTunes, Spotify, etc. exist.
Re: (Score:3)
Israel has a similar model for ISPs: Either you lay down the wires and become an infrastructure company, or you build services on top of that services. You are not allowed to do both.
I don't know about the US, but in Canada there are only 2 real internet providers: Bell (which owns the phone lines) and Videotron/Rogers (who own the cable lines). The fact that they're allowed to sell internet services on top of that infrastructure at a lower price than their competitors has lead to a multi-decade monopoly.
Th
Re: Those were the days (Score:2)
Co-Ceos worked great for blackberry! (Score:2)
So, which one won? (Score:2)
So, which guy won? Peters or Sarandos?
Re: (Score:2)
They are still trading punches in the pit.
This could be good for Netflix... in the long term (Score:3)
I never understood why so many (USoA) companies have a CEO who is also Chairman of the board. Yes, the CEO (and the COO, if there is any) should be members of the board, with voice and vote, but CEO+Chairman is too much power on one individual, with a hint of monoculture to boot...
With this move, Netflix separates Chairman from CEO.
If they play their cards right, and have a little luck, when Hastings relinquishes Chairman, Sarandos will become chairman, whomever replaced Peters as the COO will become Co-CEO, and chairman and CEO will stay separated.
Perhaps not in the short term, but in the long term this will bring diversity (of vision) to the Top of Netflix.
PS: The Co-CEOs + COO is not a very common structure, but has happened in other companies, and should be used more often IMHO
Re: (Score:3)
I never understood why so many (USoA) companies have a CEO who is also Chairman of the board. Yes, the CEO (and the COO, if there is any) should be members of the board, with voice and vote, but CEO+Chairman is too much power on one individual, with a hint of monoculture to boot...
With this move, Netflix separates Chairman from CEO.
The Board of Directors represents, and is elected by, the owners (shareholders) of the company. The CxOs report to the Board. The C-suite officers run the company. Being an employee, even a C-suite officer, does not entitle one to a Board membership.
The chair of the Board of Directors is typically the representative of the largest shareholder. In many cases, that is the founder of the company. In the early lifecycle of a business, the founder is also likely the CEO. In other cases, a majority investor
Any thoughts maybe why they are losing customers? (Score:1, Offtopic)
Do they need some more hints about woke mind virus?
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/s... [twitter.com]
What does he know that we don't? (Score:2)
Is some awesome new show cancelled or something?