Netflix started as a somewhat successful online DVD rental company, but the Reed Hastings net worth has rocketed since the company launched their online streaming service.
It all started with a tricky maths equation, or possibly a $40 penalty charge from Blockbuster for a late return. Netflix CEO and founder Reed Hastings can’t quite make up his mind about how Netflix came to be.
According to co-founder Marc Randolph, the pair just wanted to create the ‘Amazon.com of something’. The something they settled on was DVDs.
The site launched in 1998, selling and renting CDs and DVDs. It was relatively successful, despite competition from Apple, Walmart and Amazon.
However, Netflix changed their focus in the early 2000s, predicting that the industry would move online entirely. The streaming service was released in 2007, allowing users to watch movies over the internet.
There are now almost 100 million Netflix users around the world that spend 10 billion hours a month watching TV and movies through the service.
While the likes of Amazon and Sky TV have since started their own rival services, Netflix remains the biggest streaming platform around, with thousands of movies and hours of original content to watch. But who is the man that made digital binge-watching possible?
Reed Hastings net worth: How did the Netflix CEO earn his fortune?
Hastings was born into a family of lawyers. However, he opted against following in their footsteps. Instead, he went to Stanford to study computer science, just as so many digital entrepreneurs before and after him did.
After graduating, Hastings founded Pure Software, which created tools for computer engineers. The company was eventually sold to Rational Software (which was later acquired by IBM) for $489 million.
Hastings used his share to found Netflix, which is now the world’s leading movie streaming service.
The successful CEO accredits Netflix’s success to his unique work style.
Hastings takes six weeks off from work every year, which he thinks helps to keep him mentally charged. Likewise, he has also admitted that he has no hobbies, which allows him to dedicate more time to his online empire.
Incredibly, Hastings almost sold his creation to Blockbuster back in 2000 for just $50 million. Yet, the rental chain turned down the deal and has since gone bust as a result of industry’s digital switch.
Hastings will be thankful that the deal never went ahead, as his company is now worth $70.3 billion. Likewise, as a result of Netflix’s success, the Reed Hastings net worth stands at $1.97 billion.
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