On January 19, a thunderclap occurred at Netflix. After 26 years at the helm of the company, founder and CEO, Reed Hastings has decided to step down. He entrusts the streaming platform to a pair made up of Ted Sarandos, the content director, and Greg Peters.
Rather little known, the latter has nevertheless been at the heart of Netflix’s new strategy in recent years. Back in 3 points on a personality who should count a lot in Hollywood over the next few years.
A discreet and appreciated man
Greg Peters is described as a quiet man by most observers of the streaming industry. A 51-year-old graduate in physics and astrophysics from Yale University, he is also considered a methodical and extremely effective leader in entrepreneurial projects.
More anecdotally, he also adopted the dietary codes of the great leaders of Silicon Valley, for example by drinking huge quantities of water, report our colleagues from Business Insider. His good results quickly caught the eye of Netflix and its leader Reed Hastings, who made him a man of confidence.
Greg Peters has also collected the fruit of his labor, and he is the third highest paid executive of Netflix with an annual remuneration of around 24 million dollars.
Advertising and gaming
Netflix’s new strongman is the man who took control of the advertising turnaround at the end of 2022. The new package with advertising marks a change in model for the streaming platform. The first results are promising and could quickly increase the number of subscribers. But not everyone supports this development, and some creators have already voiced their criticisms.
Greg Peters has also engaged the streaming service in the video game sector. This turning point has left many observers perplexed, but the manager is convinced that the availability of new titles is a real selling point. While the adaptation of video game franchises into films and series could bear fruit. In this respect, the success of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners on Netflix proves him right.
A successful experience in Japan
It wasn’t obvious. In 2015, Greg Peters was put in charge of expanding Netflix in Japan. While the country seemed rather reluctant to pay for streaming content, it was able to offer different price models adapted to all budgets. A partnership with SoftBank also facilitated the deployment of the service on site.
In the end, it is therefore a success and a very instructive model for the new leader of the platform. In 2019, he said his time in Japan taught him “a ton of things, in order to expand into other markets around the world.
