Hastings keeps Netflix CEO and Chairman roles after shareholder vote

Reed Hastings

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.