Founder of Netflix quits role as chief executive

NETFLIX boss Reed Hastings has stepped down as chief executive of the streaming giant as it reported quarterly subscriber numbers that beat forecasts.

Hastings, who founded the firm in 1997 as a service delivering DVDs by post, said it was ‘the right time to complete my succession’ and that he would be replaced by chief operating officer Greg Peters, who will be promoted to co-chief executive alongside Ted Sarandos.

But Hastings, 62, will continue to serve on the board as executive chairman, following the example of other tech moguls such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.

The announcement came as Netflix added nearly 7.7m net new subscribers in the fourth quarter of last year, well ahead of the 4.5m predicted by analysts.

Although tightening consumer spending continued to be a pain point for the company, big-hitting releases like Glass Onion, Wednesday and All Quiet on the Western Front had bolstered the streaming giant.

Profits for the period dropped to £44m from £490m a year ago, while revenues rose to nearly £6.3bn from £6.2bn.

The shares surged 6pc to more than $315 in after-hours trading on Wall Street.

Netflix had a rocky start to 2022, announcing its first fall in paying subscribers for over a decade in the first half of the year.

The combination of inflationary pressure on households and the wider tech sell-off spelt disaster for Netflix, forcing it to cut hundreds of jobs and hike prices across key markets.