Netflix CEO’s Massive Total 2019 Compensation Revealed

Neftlix is a massive success as far as branding goes, having retained the crown as “King of Streaming” for years on end. However, while Netflix clearly scores big hits with original TV series, feature films, as well as syndicated content, it also is notorious for spending a large fortune of its money producing original content – and even more to secure licensing for some of the biggest movies and syndicated TV series. With Netflix remaining intensely secretive about its internal economics, there’s definitely a question about just how profitable the company is. Well, if the earnings of Netflix’s Top executive is any indication, it’s a pretty lucrative job, indeed.

Deadline has the breakdown on Netflix CEO Reed Hastings’ 2019 compensation package, which apparently totaled $38.58 million. That was a nice bump from Hastings’ 2018 earnings, which totaled $36.08M (or $37.4M with option awards included). The bulk of that money comes from option awards bonuses, added to Hastings’ base pay of $700K a year. By comparison, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos earned a base pay of $18 million in 2019, with option awards bumping that earning to $34.67M.

If you wondering what led to these massive payouts to Netflix’s top execs: Netflix reported on Tuesday of 2019 earnings totalling $5.7 billion, which was in line with company guidance. Even if Netflix’s earnings per share rate was lower than expected, the streaming service also boasted a subscriber boost of 7 million net ads, with 2.3 million of those being in US and Canada, for a 70 million combined subscriber total in those regions. Europe, The Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific also boasted significant gains.

As the 2020 Streaming Wars begin Netflix is still commanding a leading stride, scoring numerous mainstream breakthroughs during the Coronavirus Pandemic. That’s been especially true of Netflix’s latest crop of reality shows and documentaries (The Circle, Love Is Blind, Tiger King, Too Hot to Handle), which have captured the zeitgiest at a time when there’s little competition for content. The quarantine measures all across the world have also given Netflix an unexpected and highly-beneficial boost to its subscriber base and viewership totals in 2020, positioning the company for one of its biggest years, yet.

With all of the aforementioned advantages, and a signficant head start in brand recognition, it looks like (so far) Netlix is in no real danger of losing its crown as the frontrunner in the streaming industry.