Reed Hastings resigns as CEO of Netflix despite a new surge in subscribers

Founding partner of Netflix inc, Reed HastingsHe announced Thursday that he is stepping down as CEO and handing the reins of the streaming service to his partner and co-CEO, Ted Sarandosand director of corporate operations, Greg Peters. However, Hastings will continue to serve as CEO of the company.

The company’s shares, which have fallen nearly 38% in the past year, up 7.9% to $340.66 in post-close trading.

Sarandos and Peters will share the title of CEO, with Hastings serving as CEO.

The change is effective immediately and is the icing on the cake A decade of succession planning by the board. Peters and Sarandos were both promoted in July 2020, at a difficult time for the company.

“It’s been a baptism of fire, given COVID and recent challenges in our business,” Hastings wrote in a blog announcing his departure. “But they both got along incredibly well with each other…so I feel on the board that the time is right to complete my succession.”

“Ted and Greg are now co-CEOs (…) weak of heart and weak in ability to make members happy and accelerate growth. I am proud to be able to be CEO for many years,” Hastings tweeted minutes before Netflix reported its fourth-quarter 2022 results.

Hastings announced his departure while Netflix reported it It added 7.66 million subscribers In the fourth quarter, it beat Wall Street’s forecast of 4.57 million with help Harry and Megan s Merlin In the battle to attract viewers.

The company has been under pressure from containing consumer spending and competition from Walt Disney, Amazon and other companies that spend billions of dollars making TV shows and movies for audiences online.

Netflix lost customers in the first half of 2022. It grew again in the second half, but adding new subscribers is still below the rate of recent years.

To support the growth, in November, Netflix introduced a The cheapest option with advertising in 12 countries. It also announced plans to eliminate password sharing.

By the end of December, the company’s subscriber base had reached 231 million.

Net income fell to $55 million, or 12 cents per share, from $607 million, or $1.33 per share, a year ago. Revenue increased 1.9% to $7.85 billion, in line with expectations.

(With information from Reuters and EFE)

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