Reed Hastings

Reed Hastings was born in 1960 in Boston, Massachusetts. After graduating from Bowdoin College, he served in the Peace Corps teaching math in Swaziland (now Eswatini) for two years. He then earned a master's in computer science from Stanford. Before Netflix, he founded Pure Software in 1991, which merged with Atria Software and was later acquired by Rational Software. In 1997 Hastings co-founded Netflix with Marc Randolph. The company initially mailed DVDs to subscribers, disrupting Blockbuster's retail model. Hastings made the pivotal decision to pivot to streaming in 2007, a move that seemed premature at the time but ultimately defined the future of entertainment. The transition was not without turmoil — the 2011 Qwikster debacle cost Netflix 800,000 subscribers and crashed the stock by 75%. Hastings recovered by doubling down on original content, beginning with "House of Cards" in 2013. This strategy transformed Netflix from a distribution platform into a major content studio, spending over $17 billion annually on programming. He grew Netflix from a US-only service to a global platform available in over 190 countries, fundamentally changing how the world consumes entertainment. Hastings is known for his radical management philosophy, documented in the book "No Rules Rules." He pioneered unlimited vacation policies, eliminated formal expense approvals, and built a culture of radical candor and high performance. He stepped back from daily operations as CEO in early 2023, transitioning to Executive Chairman, but remains deeply involved in Netflix's long-term strategy and corporate culture.