How Netflix Missed Out on Succession Drama

When it comes to drama, Netflix has turned out to be a disappointment, at least for reporters. In the annals of tech CEO successions, Reed Hastings’ handoff of the reins to the duo of Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters seems to have gone about as smoothly as possible. In the year since Hastings kicked himself upstairs, Netflix stock has soared 67%. Worries about its slowing growth have (to some extent) dissipated. Quarterly earnings calls featuring top executives have become boring—which is to be expected for a company whose business is chugging along.

And Hastings doesn’t appear to be causing trouble for his successors. Instead, as our Weekend report today about his new life as a Utah resort owner demonstrates, Hastings has his hands full. Not only is he busy with the Utah property development, he’s got an African charity to work on. “I’m not in the office a lot, trying to hold onto my powers,” Hastings told my colleague Julia Black. In other words, he’s no Bob Iger, who reportedly spent the year after he left the company, when he served as executive chair, complaining to all and sundry about the flaws of his CEO successor, Bob Chapek. (This CNBC account goes into detail about that history). Disney stock plunged 36% in that time. That wasn’t exactly the fault of Chapek, as the entire market was cratering then. Nevertheless, the year ended with Chapek out and Iger back in charge.