This is a changing of the guard at the top of Netflix’s board.
Reed Hastings, the company’s co-founder and CEO for 25 years, and who built the company into one of the world’s leading premium streamers, has officially stepped down from Netflix’s board of directors after the company’s annual shareholder meeting on June 4. As previously announced, Netflix said Hastings was leaving the company’s board “to focus on philanthropy and other endeavors,” including managing his Utah ski resort.
Following Mr. Hastings’ retirement, Mr. Hogue, Netflix’s lead independent director who has served on the company’s board since 1999, was appointed chairman. Mr. Hogue was an early investor in Netflix and has been a founding general partner of the venture capital firm Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) since 1995.
Netflix said in an SEC filing on Friday that its board of directors will appoint Mr. Hogue as chairman of the board on May 29, 2026, effective at the conclusion of the company’s annual meeting. “The board has determined that an independent lead independent director is no longer necessary because Mr. Hogue 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 as chairman comes after shareholders voted last year to appoint him as a director at the streamer’s 2025 annual general meeting, with 78% of shares voting against him in his re-election vote. This was due to excessive dissatisfaction with the low attendance rate at the previous year’s board of directors meeting, which was 50% in 2024. After the vote, Hogue offered to resign, but Netflix’s board of directors rejected the offer and retained Hogue as a director. “The board noted Mr. Hogue’s otherwise exemplary attendance record and determined that his absence in 2024 did not indicate a lack of commitment to his job,” the company said at the time.
At this year’s annual general meeting, Netflix investors overwhelmingly supported Hogue’s re-election as director, with more than 93% of their shares voting for him.
At Thursday’s meeting, Netflix shareholders also voted to re-elect other members of the company’s board of directors: co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, Richard Burton, Matthias Dopfner, Leslie Kilgore, Strive Masiyiwa and Ann Mather, and ambassadors Susan Rice, Brad Smith, Ann Sweeney and Ellie Mertz.
Hogue has served as the lead independent director on Netflix’s board since 2012, a role the company said is “roughly comparable to the role of chairman.” He will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board’s Nominating and Governance Committee.
According to Netflix, the board selected Mr. Hogue as chairman “for his many years of valuable leadership and contributions to the board. He brings strategic insight and financial experience to the board, and provides a unique perspective on issues such as risk management, corporate governance, and talent selection and management.”
Mr. Hogue also serves on the boards of Zillow Group and Peloton Interactive. He serves on the University of Michigan’s Investment Advisory Board, Northwestern University’s Board of Trustees, and Vanderbilt University’s Board of Trustees. Hogue holds an MBA from the University of Michigan and a BA in Economics and Political Science from Northwestern University.
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