While presenting its Q4 2022 financial results on January 19, Netflix announced that co-founder Reed Hastings was stepping down as CEO, but would go on serving as Executive Chairman.

Hastings had been sharing the position with Ted Sarandos since mid-2020. From now on, Sarandos will serve as Co-CEO together with Greg Peters, who had been acting as Chief Operating Officer (COO). According to the company, this marks the “completion of the succession process”.

Hastings relinquishes his position following a year in which the OTT had a 4% yearly increase in its subscriber base on a global scale. It totalled 231 million paid subs as at the end of the year. In Latin America, the streaming giant closed 2022 with 41.7 million paid subs, which is tantamount to a 4.3% yearly increase.

As regards the new lower priced ad-supported tier launched by Netflix last November, the company’s letter to shareholders includes the following: “While it’s still early days for ads and we have lots to do, we are pleased with our progress to date across every dimension: member experience, value to advertisers, and incremental contribution to our business.” According to the company, the two areas that need improving are ad targeting and audience measurement.