By Isabella Simonetti

Netflix Chairman and co-founder Reed Hastings will step down from the company's board after his term expires in June, the streaming giant said Thursday.

Netflix said Hastings has decided not stand for re-election to its board so he can focus on philanthropy and other pursuits.

Hastings's departure marks an end of an era for Netflix, which under his leadership transformed from a DVD-by-mail business to a juggernaut in subscription video streaming that disrupted Hollywood.

"My real contribution at Netflix wasn't a single decision," Hastings said in a statement in a company letter to shareholders. "It was a focus on member joy, building a culture that others could inherit and improve, and building a company that could be both beloved by members and wildly successful for generations to come."

Netflix on Thursday also reported first-quarter results in its first earnings report after walking away from a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's studios and HBO Max.

Netflix reported revenue of $12.25 billion from the quarter, up 16.2% from the same period one year earlier. Net income was $5.28 billion, up nearly 83% from the same period a year ago. Netflix said its results were driven by subscriber growth, increased pricing and higher advertising revenue.

The company also laid out three areas of focus for its business strategy going forward: entertainment value, using technology to bolster its service and improving monetization.

In March, Netflix raised its subscription prices across its plans in the U.S. The streamer's ad-supported plan now costs $8.99 per month, while its standard plan costs $19.99 and its premium plan costs $26.99.

Popular programming during the quarter included new seasons of "Bridgerton" and "One Piece," the company said.

The company, the biggest subscription streaming video service, spent months in a fight to take over Warner's studios and HBO Max. Netflix in December struck a deal to buy the entertainment assets for $72 billion. The pact, if cleared by regulators, would have added HBO Max to Netflix's arsenal and would have expanded the company's reach in theatrical movie releases.

But Netflix in February decided to walk away from the deal after David Ellison-led Paramount increased its offer for all of Warner Discovery to $31 a share, or $81 billion, which Warner's board determined was superior. Unlike Netflix's scrapped deal, Paramount acquisition of Warner includes the company's cable networks.

"Warner Bros. would have been a nice accelerant for our strategy, but only at the right price," the company said in its letter to shareholders on Thursday.

After Paramount upped its offer, Netflix co-Chief Executives Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said "the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match." The Netflix executives said the deal was "always a 'nice to have' at the right price, not a 'must have' at any price." Paramount footed the bill for the $2.8 billion breakup fee Warner owed Netflix as a result of accepting Paramount's offer.

The breakup fee helped push Netflix's earning per share to $1.23, up 86% from the same quarter a year earlier.

Write to Isabella Simonetti at isabella.simonetti@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 16, 2026 16:02 ET (20:02 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.