News that Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings is joining the Board of Directors for Facebook should make for an attractive note inside the next movie, but beyond that it’s unclear what it means for either company. Hastings successfully navigated Netflix during the strategy of going public which many assume would be a next step for the social media giant, so his experience could turn out to be useful, and in addition serves at the board of Microsoft, which owns a stake in Facebook. That goes without mentioning plans by Netflix to make another run at integrating social features into its movie service after the original implementation fell apart and Warner Bros. recently offering video on-demand through Facebook. As opposed to facing a lawsuit from Paul Allen , Netflix and Facebook share an intense public backlash whenever either one changes their homepage, but we aren’t sure how he could help there — have you ever seen the redesigned Netflix.com ?
PALO ALTO, Calif. – June 23 – Facebook® announced today that Reed Hastings, chairman and chief executive officer of Netflix Inc., has joined the company’s board of directors.
“Reed is an entrepreneur and technologist who has led Netflix to remodel the best way people watch movies and television,” said Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook. “He has built a culture of continuing rapid innovation, something we share and work flat out to construct everyday.”
“Facebook is propelling a fundamental change in how people hook up with one another and share a wide variety of content,” said Hastings. “I’m awaiting working with Mark and the remainder of the board to aid Facebook make the most of the entire opportunities ahead.”
With greater than 23 million members inside the U.S. and Canada, Netflix is the world’s leading Internet subscription service for playing movies and television shows. Hastings founded the corporate in 1997. Earlier in his career, he founded Pure Atria Software, where he was CEO until the corporate was acquired by Rational Software Corporation in 1997.
Since 2007, Hastings has also been a member of Microsoft Corp.’s board of directors, and is currently lead independent director. He holds an M.S.C.S. degree from Stanford University and a B.A. from Bowdoin College.
Hastings is additionally an active educational philanthropist and board member of many non-profits. He was president of the California State Board of Education from 2000 to 2004.
Along with Zuckerberg, Hastings joins current Facebook board members Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz; Jim Breyer of Accel Partners; Donald E. Graham, chairman and CEO of The Washington Post Company; and Peter Thiel of Clarium Capital and Founders Fund.
About Facebook Founded in February 2004, Facebook’s mission is to offer people the ability to share and make the sector more open and connected. Anyone can subscribe to Facebook and engage with the folks they know in a trusted environment. Facebook is a privately held company and is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.
Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc. Other names can be trademarks in their respective owners.
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