Ted Sarandos, Netflix Co-CEO Who Led the Streamer Into Original Series and Films

Ted Sarandos is co-chief executive officer and president of Netflix, the streaming company he joined in 2000 to run its film and television buying. He has been co-CEO since 2020 and shares the top job with Greg Peters.

For more than two decades he has been responsible for everything members watch on the service. He led the company’s move from licensing other studios’ shows into making its own, a shift that began in 2013, and Netflix now reports more than 325 million paid memberships.

Career

Sarandos built his early career in home video. According to the Netflix proxy statement, he worked as an executive at the video distributor ETD and at Video City and West Coast Video, a chain of video rental stores, before moving to Netflix.

He joined Netflix in 2000 as chief content officer. At the time the company was still a DVD-by-mail service, and his job was to secure the films and series that subscribers could rent.

When Netflix began streaming in 2007, the content team’s task changed. The company needed digital rights to large catalogues of films and television, and it began to sign licensing deals with studios and networks for its online service.

The bigger change came in 2013. That year Netflix released House of Cards, followed by new seasons of Arrested Development and the series Orange Is the New Black, and the proxy statement credits Sarandos with leading this transition into original production.

The global rollout followed. On 6 January 2016 Netflix switched on its service in more than 130 new countries at once, taking its reach to over 190 countries. Since then the company has commissioned series and films in many languages and regions.

In 2020 the board named Sarandos co-chief executive officer alongside co-founder Reed Hastings, and he joined the Netflix board the same year. He kept his role as chief content officer.

In January 2023 Hastings stepped back from day-to-day leadership and became executive chairman. Greg Peters joined Sarandos as co-CEO, and Sarandos handed over the chief content officer title at the same time.

Since then the two co-CEOs have expanded Netflix into advertising, live events and games. In April 2026 Hastings told the company that he would not seek another term on the board at the 2026 annual meeting, ending his time as chairman.

Growth has continued into 2026. In the third quarter of 2026, Netflix reported revenue of $12.9 billion, up 12% on a year earlier, with an operating margin of 34.6%.

Beside his corporate work, Sarandos has been a producer or executive producer on documentaries and independent films, including the Emmy-nominated Outrage and Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends.

Current Roles

• Co-Chief Executive Officer and President, Netflix (co-CEO since 2020)
• Member of the Board of Directors, Netflix (since 2020)
• Member of the Board of Directors, Spotify Technology
• Trustee, American Film Institute
• Board member, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
• Board member, Exploring the Arts
• Henry Crown Fellow, Aspen Institute

Key Achievements

Turning Netflix into a studio

Sarandos led the move into original content that began with House of Cards in 2013. Netflix’s 2025 annual report describes the company as an entertainment service offering series, films, games and live programming in a wide range of genres and languages.

Building live events

Live programming has become a growing part of the service. Netflix said the Jake Paul and Mike Tyson boxing match in Arlington, Texas, in November 2024 was watched live by 60 million households, with a peak of 65 million concurrent streams.

• Households watching Paul vs Tyson live: 60 million (November 2024)
• Peak concurrent streams: 65 million (November 2024)
• Co-main event Serrano vs Taylor: 50 million households (November 2024)

The company has kept adding events. Its third-quarter letter for 2026 listed an NFL game from Melbourne and three NFL games on Thanksgiving Eve and Christmas Day.

Record revenue and profit

Under the co-CEOs, revenue and margins have risen each year. Netflix reported revenue of $45.2 billion for 2025, up 16%, with an operating margin of 29.5%, three points higher than in 2024.

• Revenue 2023: $33.7 billion
• Revenue 2024: $39.0 billion
• Revenue 2025: $45.2 billion
• Operating income 2025: $13.3 billion

Launching advertising

Netflix added a cheaper plan with advertising, and the business grew quickly. The company said ad revenue rose more than two and a half times in 2025 to over $1.5 billion, and it expected that figure to roughly double in 2026.

A disciplined approach to deals

In December 2025 Netflix agreed to buy Warner Bros., and in January 2026 the two sides changed the terms to an all-cash deal. When a rival bid from Paramount Skydance was judged superior, Netflix declined on 26 February 2026 to raise its offer and later received a $2.8 billion termination fee.

The Company in Numbers

• Revenue: $45.2 billion (2025)
• Operating margin: 29.5% (2025)
• Paid memberships: more than 325 million (end of 2025)
• Audience: approaching one billion people (2026, Netflix)
• Advertising revenue: more than $1.5 billion (2025)
• Full-time employees: about 16,000, of whom about 10,900 were in the United States and Canada (31 December 2025)
• Revenue forecast: $51.1 billion (2026, company guidance in October 2026)

Viewers in Saudi Arabia form part of that audience. Our coverage of the British drama Adolescence reported that it reached 50 million household views within 12 days of release, the fastest title in Netflix’s history to do so.

Awards and Honours

• Named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People, 2013
• Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), awarded in 2024 for services to the creative industries in the United Kingdom

In Their Own Words

In a joint statement with Greg Peters on 26 February 2026, after Netflix chose not to raise its offer for Warner Bros., Sarandos and Peters said: “But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.”

The same statement set out the company’s plan from there: “We will continue to do what we’ve done for more than 20 years as a public company: delight our members, profitably grow our business, and drive long-term shareholder value.”

Read also: Netflix Partners with AFAC to Launch Pan-Regional Initiative for Emerging Arab Women Filmmakers