Netflix co-founder Hastings exits as streaming pioneer hunts for growth

LifestyleScience & TechnologyNetflix co-founder Hastings exits as streaming pioneer hunts for growthBy Reuters -Apr 17, 2026LOS ANGELES: Netflix Reed Hastings ​is quitting the streaming service he co-founded 29 years ago. The departure of Hastings, 65, comes at an inopportune time. The company is ‌searching for new avenues of growth as sales slow due to competition, and after a potentially transformative merger with Warner Bros Discovery fell through in February. Netflix on Thursday forecast earnings per share in the current quarter below analysts’ expectations and quarterly revenue growth that is the slowest in a year, according to LSEG. The company’s stock plunged around 9% on the news of Hastings’ departure. Netflix ​doubled down on its existing strategy to entertain the world, providing movies and series for many tastes, cultures and languages, in a 14-page shareholder ​letter released on Thursday. The company’s full-year outlook remained unchanged. The company’s co-chief executive, Greg Peters, said that Netflix ended last year ⁠with more than 325 million paid members and is entertaining an audience approaching a billion people. “But even given that number, we still have plenty of room ​to grow into our addressable market,” he said. In the letter to investors, Netflix said Hastings will not stand for re-election at its annual meeting in June and plans ​to focus on philanthropy and other pursuits. FROM DVD RENTALS TO STREAMING GIANT Hastings transformed Netflix from a DVDs-by-mail business to a global streaming goliath that revolutionized the distribution of movies and television series. He led the company through missteps like the short-lived decision, in 2011, to spin off the DVD business into a service called Qwikster. He also steered it through a pandemic, ​which led to a surge of growth at Netflix even as other entertainment companies struggled. The entrepreneur forged Netflix’s unique performance culture in a moment of crisis, ​when funding for interne...