Hastings to retain CEO and chairman roles at Netflix

Netflix CEO and chairman Reed Hastings has kept hold of both roles after shareholders at its annual general meeting reportedly rejected a motion that would have separated the two positions.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, 53% of shareholders voted against the resolution to create an independent chairman, with a spokesman telling the paper, “Netflix has demonstrated extraordinary long term success under the leadership of Reed and the board”.

Last year, a similar proposal to divide the CEO and chairman roles – which Hastings has held since Netflix went public in 2002 – reportedly passed with 73% of the vote, but no action was taken.

The WSJ reports that shareholder resolutions seeking an independent chairman “tend to win strong support, but rarely pass.”

According to a New York Times report, two big proxy advisory firms; Institutional Shareholder Services; and Glass Lewis & Company, as well as two prominent pension funds, backed the request for an independent board chairman.

Separately, Forbes reported yesterday that Hastings is now the first “on-demand billionaire” with his personal wealth now valued at more than a billion dollars thanks to a surge in Netflix’s share price this year.

Hasting’s stock and options in the company are now estimated to be worth more than US$900 million, while his other assets are said to include around US$120 million in post-tax profits from stock sales over the past five years.