Netflix is in the midst of a high-stakes battle to acquire Warner Bros., a deal that could dramatically reshape Hollywood’s power structure. But amidst the uncertainty, co-CEO Ted Sarandos isn’t looking toward traditional management books for leadership advice.
In fact, the 61-year-old executive doesn’t like to read business books—at all. He instead often returns to his favorite work of fiction: Typhoon, a 1902 Joseph Conrad novella about a steamship captain and crew navigating a severe storm while at sea.
“It doesn’t sound like a management story on the surface, but I think it’s the most powerful leadership story I’ve ever read,” Sarandos recently told CNBC. “I read it over and over again because I find … I get something different in the book every time I read it.”
Typhoon follows a captain forced to make difficult decisions with limited information as the ship faces extreme conditions. Goodreads describes the book as an exploration of leadership, tolerance, and the consequences of making decisions under pressure.
When Sarandos first read the novella some two decades ago, he admitted he thought the captain was a reckless “hot dog” who was endangering his crew. Over time, his interpretation shifted.
