Netflix Founder Reed Hastings Cashes Out Millions After Exercising Options

(NETFLIX INC: NFLX) co-founder Reed Hastings exercised 386,700 nonqualified stock options at $10.263 per share on June 1, then sold the same number of shares in two transactions at roughly $86 per share, netting about $33 million (approximately ₩40 billion) in cash. After these transactions, he still retains over 21 million shares in total, combining direct holdings and shares held in trusts.

On June 7, co-CEO Gregory Peters sold about 27,000 shares on the open market at approximately $89 per share, realizing roughly $2.4 million (around ₩3 billion). The day before, he had transferred about 1,200 shares as a gift, reducing his direct stake to approximately 120,000 shares.

In early May, Chief Legal Officer David Hyman saw a portion of his restricted stock units vest. To cover the associated tax withholding, the company conducted a share withholding at vesting, and on May 5 he sold about 5,700 shares on the open market for around $500,000 (roughly ₩700 million). Following the sale, his remaining holding is valued at about $28 million (around ₩40 billion).

Netflix’s Q1 2026 results, announced in April, delivered earnings per share of $1.23—well above the $0.76 consensus estimate—and revenue growth of over 16% year-over-year, extending the company’s performance momentum. In the same filing, Hastings also disclosed that he will not stand for re-election to the board after the annual shareholder meeting in June, effectively concluding his nearly 30-year tenure in frontline management.

Founded in the U.S. in 1997 as a DVD-by-mail service, Netflix transitioned to a subscription-based streaming model and now leads the industry with over 300 million paid subscribers across more than 190 countries. Reed Hastings co-founded the company and served as both CEO and board chair; today, co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters jointly helm Netflix.