US streaming giant Netflix ended last year with more than 230 million global subscribers, it said Thursday, beating analysts’ expectations as hits such as “Wednesday” and “Harry & Meghan” enticed new viewers.
“2022 was a tough year, with a bumpy start but a brighter finish,” the company said in a letter announcing bumper fourth-quarter earnings.
Netflix also announced that co-founder Reed Hastings was standing down as CEO, ending a 25-year leadership that saw the company grow from a rent-by-mail DVD service to an entertainment juggernaut.
Hastings ceded control of Netflix to his two longtime associates, Chief Operating Officer Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos, who have been the face of Netflix in Hollywood and had already been named co-CEO.
“It feels like yesterday was our IPO; we were covered in red envelopes,” Hastings said during an earnings call.
“Hopefully, some of you have held the stock for all 21 years.”
Netflix became a publicly traded company in early 2002 at an opening price of $15 (sh55,000) a share.
Shares in the streaming television service were up nearly 7 percent to $337.31 (sh1.2m) in after-market trades that followed the release of the earnings figures.
The Netflix board has been discussing succession planning for many years, Hastings pointed out in a blog post, joking “even founders need to evolve!”
Source: New Vision
