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Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings' donation to a super PAC supporting Kamala Harris has already taken the internet by storm. This has also led to many netizens claiming that they would unsubscribe from the OTT platform.
Several netizens took to the internet to express their dissatisfaction with the donation since many speculated that the donation was made by the company. A user wrote on X:
"I canceled Netflix because the co-founder Reed Hastings donated $7 MILLION to Kamala Harris' campaign. I don't support companies that support communists #CancelNetflix."
Meanwhile, it is worth knowing the actual owners and shareholders of the company. Marc Randolf and Reed Hastings founded Netflix in 1997. The company, which was initially formed in Scotts Valley, is now based in Los Gatos, California.
While Hastings and Randolf founded the company, they don't own it. According to feedough.com, the streaming media company is a "publicly traded company," which means that there is no single owner.
Instead, some shareholders and investors own the company based on the stakes they hold in it. Some of the significant shareholders are Vanguard Group Inc., BlackRock Inc., State Street Corporation, and Morgan Stanley, to name a few.
The company also has individual shareholders like Reed Hastings, Leslie J. Kilgore, and David A. Hyman.
Exploring Netflix's founders and shareholders
As mentioned, the streaming media company does not have a particular owner but has several investors and shareholders, including individuals as well as other companies. The top 5 biggest institutional shareholders of Netflix, as per a report from NASDAQ, are:
The Vanguard Group
The Vanguard Group has been the biggest shareholder of Netflix. As of March 2024, it was holding about 36,587,911 of the company shares. This company, founded by John C. Bogle, is one of the biggest asset management firms in the world.
BlackRock Inc.
As of March 31, 2024, this company owned about 31,380,155 of the total shares of Netflix. The company was founded by eight founders back in 1988.
Fidelity Investments
As of March 31, 2024, Boston-based company Fidelity Investments owned 21,013,238.
State Street Corporation
The company, which is headquartered in Massachusetts, owned 16,522,985 shares of the streaming media company as of March 31, 2024.
T. Rowe Price Associates
Founded in 1937, this company owned 11,706,339 shares as of March 31, 2024. Rob Sharps is the CEO, President, and Chairman.
The abovementioned category of institutional shareholders meant that these companies would invest money "on behalf of other people." Apart from these, there are several individual shareholders as well. The list below consists of the people who are among the company's insider investors, according to a report from Technopedia.
Reed Hastings
While Hastings ranks first among the top five biggest individual shareholders, he doesn't come in the top 10 of the total list, as reported by feedough.com. Along with being a shareholder, Hastings is also a co-founder and former CEO of the company. As of February 2024, he was reportedly holding a total of 2,991,541 shares.
Leslie J. Kilgore
The second biggest individual shareholder, Leslie J. Kilgore, is also a member of the company audit board. GuruFocus reported that as of August 2020, she was holding 35,196 shares.
David A. Hyman
The chief legal officer of the company, David A. Hyman, was reportedly holding a total of 32,610 shares as of January 2024.
Gregory K. Peters
Gregory K. Peters, who has also been the co-CEO of Netflix, reportedly holds about 13,090 shares as of January 26, 2024, making him one of the top five individual shareholders of the company.
Bradford L. Smith
Bradford L. Smith, who was one of the directors since 2015, was reportedly holding 6,499 shares as of August 2019. He has also been a member of the Netflix's board of directors.
The company co-founder Marc Randolf is further worth noting since he was the first-ever CEO of Netflix. Along with being an entrepreneur, he is also a speaker and advisor. Randolf is further the co-founder of Udacity. The current co-CEO of the company is Ted Sarandos. Before being in that position, he had also worked as the chief content officer after joining Netflix in 2000.
Reed Hastings became one of the latest names to back Kamala Harris in the upcoming elections
Inc. reported that according to Hastings, the $7 million was the biggest amount that he had ever donated to a single candidate. The outlet further reported that her campaign witnessed a whopping $81 million in donations within the first 24 hours only.
After Biden's performance in the presidential debate in late June, Hastings openly called him out and also urged for his withdrawal from the presidential race this year. The idea behind this massive donation was reportedly derived from LinkedIn's co-founder Reid Hoffman, who had already been backing Harris.
While the donation was made from Hastings, a lot of netizens believed that it was made from the company itself, which led to massive backlash on the internet.
