Reed Hastings on life after Netflix and the next wave of AI

**Reed Hastings** (0:00)
For the last decade, AI has been getting roughly twice as good every year.
If that continues, which looks pretty likely, then in five years, the AI will be 32 times smarter, more effective than it is today. Then you asked, what do CEOs have to do? It's like doubling your workforce. So suddenly, boom, you've got double your workforce. Now you could either cut your workforce in half and stay in the same business lines, or you can use all these new resources to expand against your competitors. So you're gonna see a lot of companies attacking each other, which is the great act of creative destruction.

**Penny Pritzker** (0:40)
Today on The CEO Signal, we're talking to Reed Hastings, Netflix co-founder and former CEO.
He helped redefine how the world watches television. Now, after nearly three decades, he stepped away from the company completely.

**Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson** (0:58)
And his next chapter looks very different. So how to lead a know, when to let go and what to build next?

**Penny Pritzker** (1:06)
From Semafor, this is the CEO Signal.

**Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson** (1:19)
Hi Penny.

**Penny Pritzker** (1:19)
Hello Edge.

**Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson** (1:20)
So we got Reed Hastings on the show today. He is a CEO who's built one of the most consequential companies of our time. I think it's no exaggeration to say that.

**Penny Pritzker** (1:29)
He starts with a DVD business that he's mailing out to his customers and really transforms that into a streaming giant globally.

**Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson** (1:40)
And I'm interested that having built something like that, he didn't chase another Netflix sized opportunity. So I want to dig into how he did go about thinking about constructing this portfolio of activities that make up his second act and how he went about leaving the first act behind.

**Penny Pritzker** (1:59)
I know from experience that abrupt transitions can be really rough. But this one wasn't so abrupt. I'm really curious how much of his succession was planned or did it just evolve.
Think about it. He's got two guys, Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, who he's really trained and raised up. When does he know they no longer need his judgment?

**Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson** (2:22)
So his next chapter looks completely different. He's running POWDER, which is a ski resort in Utah. He's also sitting on the Board of Anthropic, one of the most consequential AI companies of our time. And he's continuing decades of philanthropic work in education as well.

**Penny Pritzker** (2:38)
Absolutely. I'm curious to understand how he figures out what deserves his time.

**Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson** (2:43)
Let's bring him in.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:46)
The CEO Signal is presented by PwC.

**SPEAKER_5** (2:55)
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**Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson** (3:07)
Thank you for joining us.

**Reed Hastings** (3:08)
Oh, what a treat.

**Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson** (3:10)
So we're catching you just after you've stepped out from Netflix. After 29 years?

**Reed Hastings** (3:17)
That's one way of putting it.
I stepped down as CEO three and a half years ago. So that's the big moment. The little moment is getting off the board, which is just recent.

**Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson** (3:27)
And so how does it feel to be?

**Reed Hastings** (3:30)
You know, a lot of different feelings. So pride at the succession going well and the company doing well. Excitement for the guys who took over, had worked with me for 20 years. So I'm happy for them. And then, you know, a little tinge is, I don't know, like when your kid goes to college or something, or you're like, I miss them. I want to be in the meeting. I want to be in the room, you know, in the flow.
So I miss some of that. But I decided to try something totally different, and it helps to stay really busy. So I threw myself into Powder Mountain, a big private ski luxury real estate development project in Utah, and that has consumed tons of time in a very complimentary, non-competitive way.

**Penny Pritzker** (4:18)
That's great. So leaving the board, is that, you hinted at this, is that meaningfully different than stepping down as a CEO?

**Reed Hastings** (4:28)
Yes, it is. I would say it's like being a godparent versus a parent.

**Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson** (4:31)
Say more.

**Reed Hastings** (4:32)
So, you know, you're a parent, you're on the front line.

**Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson** (4:35)
Right.

**Reed Hastings** (4:36)
That's being CEO. And so then you step off of that and life changes a lot.
The board, when things are going well as they have been for Netflix, you know, is a pretty easy gig and a relaxed form. And so getting off that really hasn't been a big transition at all.