Reed Hastings, the co-founder of video streaming service Netflix and its CEO for 25 years, is stepping down from his role in a leadership change at the top of the corporation.
Hastings stated in a blog post that he has been gradually transferring management responsibilities in recent years and believes now is the appropriate time for him to fully pass on the role.
The Netflix Board has been planning for this transition for some time too, according to Hastings.
Now, Greg Peters, the Chief Operating Officer, has been promoted to the role of co-CEO alongside Ted Sarandos.
Sarandos was previously in charge of programming during Netflix’s period of significant investment and was promoted to co-CEO in 2020.
The change in leadership comes as Netflix has seen a decline of more than a third of its market value in the past year, following the reveal that the company’s period of fast growth has ended.
Sarandos and Peters will be responsible for steering the company in a different direction and leading it through a more challenging period for the entertainment industry.
However, Reed Hastings will retain his position as executive chair.
The leadership change at Netflix takes place as the company reported a jump in subscribers, adding 7.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, driven by the popularity of shows such as Wednesday, a spin-off of The Addams Family, and the Harry & Meghan documentary series.
This surpassed Netflix’s forecast of adding 4.5 million subscribers during that period.
Netflix is available for free in Kenya, but users who choose the free-tier plan can only enjoy shows and films on their mobile devices, and where some of them are locked.
Its biggest local rival is Showmax, which is owned by MultiChoice. Both have their strong and weak points, and whereas Netflix customers can enjoy high-res content that goes all the way to 4K, Showmax (Pro version) gains some points by allowing customers to stream games, and access live TV.
