It’s a changing for the guard at the top of Netflix‘s board.
Executive chairman Reed Hastings, the company’s co-founder who served as CEO for 25 years and drove it to become the world’s leading premium streamer, officially departed the Netflix board following the June 4 annual shareholders meeting. As previously announced, Netflix said Hastings is leaving the board “to focus on his philanthropy and other pursuits,” which include tending to the Utah ski resort he owns.
With Hastings’ departure, Hoag — Netflix’s lead independent director who has served on the company’s board since 1999 — has been named chairman. Hoag, an early investor in Netflix, has served as a founding general partner at growth equity investment firm TCV since 1995.
In an SEC filing Friday, Netflix said that on May 29, 2026, the board appointed Hoag to serve as the chairman of the board, effective as of the conclusion of the annual meeting. “The Board determined it will no longer need a separate Lead Independent Director, as Mr. Hoag is an independent director under the applicable rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the listing standards of the Nasdaq Stock Market,” the company said.
Hoag’s appointment to the chairman role comes after shareholders last year voted to boot him as a director at the streamer’s 2025 annual shareholder. That was over displeasure with his poor attendance at board meetings the year prior, with an attendance rate of 50% in 2024. Following that vote, Hoag had proffered his resignation — but Netflix’s board rejected it and kept him on as a director. “The Board determined that [Hoag’s] absences in 2024 did not indicate a lack of commitment to his duties, noting that Mr. Hoag possesses an otherwise exemplary attendance record,” the company said at the time.
