Netflix's CEO is stepping down. After 25 years in the position, co-founder Reed Hastings will begin his transition from chief executive officer to become the company's executive chairman, per a Netflix press release:
I’m so proud of our first 25 years, and so excited about our next quarter of a century. We can do so much more to better entertain the world and deliver more joy to our members. ... 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.
Hastings shared that the CEO position will now be held by two people, Co-CEO Ted Sarandos and COO Greg Peters.
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
Stock market plunge
The announcement of his resignation came minutes before the company released its 2022 fourth quarter earnings. Despite the omens, the streaming giant earned 4.49 billion dollars in the last year, adding $55 million in the last four-month period, as reported by Reuters. In addition, Netflix also saw an increase in subscribers. In the last quarter of 2022, the platform added 7.6 million subscribers, closing the year with 230,7 million total subscribers. Analysts attribute this jump partially to the success of the Harry & Meghan documentary and the popular series Wednesday, starring Jenna Ortega.
On Wall Street, things didn't go so well for Netflix. However, the platform ended the year with a bump in its share price, reaching a value of $335,05 per share at the time of this article's publishing. However, the figure does little to make up for the stock market plunge it took in March 2022 when the company lost nearly 200,000 subscribers and, as a result, its share price fell nearly 25%, as reported by NBC News. For that reason, the company was forced to introduce cheaper plans and restrict account sharing. These measures, according to Netflix's letter to its shareholders, worked:
2022 was a tough year, with a bumpy start but a brighter finish. We believe we have a clear path to reaccelerate our revenue growth.
