Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings has stepped down as co-CEO. He will be replaced by co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Chief Operating Officer Greg Peters who will serve as co-CEOs while hastings serves as the executive chairman of the company. The change is effective immediately.
Hastings founded Netflix as a DVD-by-mail business in 1997 as an idea that came out of frustration at having a returned rental of “Apollo 13” to the local blockbuster video where he was socked a $40 late fee.
In a post by the Financialpost blog, he says, “It feels like yesterday we were at our IPO. We were covered in red envelopes”
His announcement comes just after Netflix announced a rise in subscriber numbers for the year ending 2022. The company posted December Quarter revenue of more than $7.8 billion up by 1.9 percent from the year but in the wall Street analyst’s expectations.
Netflix lost a big number of customers in the first half of 2022 and returned to growth in the second half. However, new customer additions remain below the pace of the past years. Its subscriber base hit 231 million ends of December 2022.
For Q1 2023, Netflix is already forecasting an estimated revenue growth of about 4 percent. Netflix has seen an increase in paid subscription additions following its recent additions like the cheaper ad-supported option in November in 12 countries.
The company is still facing restrained consumer spending and competition from other streaming service providers. The company is gearing up to roll out other exciting features this quarter to convert some of the password shares to paying subscribers.
Peters says this will not be a universal move which means they’re targeting a number of regions for this feature.