Netflix Bosses Bestow Heartfelt Praise on Reed Hastings as He Sets Exit: ‘Selfless, Disciplined and Graceful’

It’s the end of the Reed Hastings era at Netflix: The co-founder, chairman and former CEO of the company he transformed from a DVD-by-mail shipper to the world’s biggest premium streaming service will depart from the Netflix board in June.

On the Netflix Q1 earnings interview with analysts, co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters expressed personal gratitude to their former boss.

Initially, Sarandos was asked an analyst’s question about whether Hastings was departing in the wake of Netflix’s massive bid for Warner Bros., which the company ultimately walked away from after Paramount Skydance came in with a more aggressive bid.

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“Sorry for anyone who was looking for some palace intrigue here — not so,” Sarandos replied. “Reed was a big champion for that deal. He championed it with the board. The board unanimously supported the deal, so we had perfect alignment with with management and the board on the Warner Bros. deal.”

Sarandos then launched into an homage to Hastings.

“It’s very unusual for a founder to step away from the board of the company after succession. But Reed is no ordinary founder,” Sarandos said. “The first time I met Reed in 1999, he said that he was building a company that would be around long after him, and that requires succession. Now imagine talking about succession while you’re just starting to build.”

Sarandos continued, “When Reed took the first steps in all of this, more than a decade ago, he said he would hang around for about another 10 years, and it’s only been six. But this is Reed’s style — make decisions and move fast. We have a long history of going from brainstorm to scale at breakneck speed in almost everything we do.”

Netflix’s directors and the board’s nominating committee will “take the next steps in reshaping the board in the months to come,” as the company looks to select a new chairman, Sarandos said.

Sarandos, who appeared to be getting a bit misty-eyed, then added more praise of Hastings: “I want to say on a personal note, I’ve been very fortunate in my life to have great bosses, people who’ve inspired me, who’ve coached me, who gave me opportunities. Reed did these things at levels unimaginable. You know, Reed is an economist and an engineer in his head, but he’s a teacher in his heart. And Reed not only shared the spotlight, a real rarity in Hollywood, by the way, he pushed me into the spotlight and celebrated the wins and coached through the misses, and, in short, made me the executive that I am today.

“I am forever grateful he built a company of risk-takers and a culture where character matters and nobody rests in the pursuit of excellence,” said Sarandos. “I have loved working with and for Reed through amazing twists and turns in our business, and he has modeled what it is to be a leader and a friend. In reflecting on Reed’s leadership here at Netflix, I was reminded of a quote from Max De Pree, who said, ‘The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality, and the last is to say thank you. And in between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor.’ That sums up the progress of an artful leader. Reed Hastings is the ultimate artful leader, and he leaves me and Greg enormous shoes to fill now, in the spirit of an artful leader, work in progress, I say to Reed: Thank you.”

Peters, who was promoted to be co-CEO alongside Sarandos in January 2023 when Hastings stepped aside as co-chief exec, also hailed the departing co-founder.

“I would just say that from the very beginning, Reed essentially established the standard for what leadership, for what culture looks like at Netflix, his vision, his willingness to take risks, to embrace change, to motivate change, really, to be transparent, even when it’s hard, to be his total commitment to our values, to always putting our members and the company first, have shaped every part of what Netflix is today. And the innovations that Reed championed didn’t just build Netflix, they helped move a whole industry forward. They expanded what is possible for storytellers around the world, for audiences.

Peters continued: “We now bring stories from around the world to audience in ways that weren’t possible or even imaginable for and we got to this point because greed has a way of pushing you to think bigger, to be more honest, not only with others, but with yourself, to own your decision, but always in a way that made you feel supported, trusted. He would debate his perspective with tremendous passion to try and get us to the best, most informed answer, but then would support you and your decision with equal passion, even when he personally disagreed. And then even better, he would celebrate you with even greater passion if you ended up being right. I think actually, those are some of his most favorite moments, and that style of interaction has quite literally shaped who I and many others across Netflix are today, and a lesson among many that I learned from reading, and perhaps the most meaningful, and certainly, I think the most apropos to this moment, is the realization that while many of us can spend most of our lives tremendous effort into building something we believe in, something we’re proud of, how we hand that work off to someone else is of equal importance to all of that time building and we should put an equal effort, thoughtfulness, planning, into that transition as we did into all that came before it.”

Peters concluded his remarks, “So when my time transition comes, I aspire to be as selfless, disciplined and graceful as Reed has been. So Reed, thank you for the trust you placed in us the example you said. We carry those principles with us every day you every day.”

Hastings stepped down as co-CEO of Netflix in early 2023 and has continued to serve as chairman. That came less than three years after Sarandos was named co-CEO alongside him in 2020.