Netflix Approves $40 Million Pay Packages for Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters in 2024
Netflix’s board approved $40 million compensation packages for co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, according to an SEC filing released on Friday by the streamer’s board. Both will draw $3 million per year in newly fixed base salaries.
Over the summer, amid the WGA and SAG strikes, the board refused to approve a more generous deal after significant pushback from shareholders, resulting in “substantial changes” to the executive pay model.
“We recognize we don’t have wide support for our executive compensation model of the last 20 years. We are listening to our shareholders and plan on substantial changes for 2024 to a more conventional model,” Netflix said in its third quarter earnings statement in October. “Our executive compensation plan will continue to be built on pay for performance.”
In June, the WGA also issued a statement expressing their disapproval of the proposed $166 million package. “Netflix’s board needs to spend less time thinking up ways to pay its executive team more money and instead address the writers’ strike that is delaying major shows like ‘Stranger Things,'” the guild said on Twitter before the strike was resolved.
While sizable, the $40 million payout is down from the approximately $51.1 million in total compensation that former co-CEO Reed Hastings drew in 2022.
Sarandos’ revised 2024 package has gone down from 2022, whcn it was reported to be $50.3 million. It’s a major bump for Peters, however, whose compensation was $28.1 million 2022 before he replaced Hastings.
Hastings, who stepped down as joint CEO in January, remains an executive chairman at the streamer. He will still be paid $100,000 per year, and his total compensation is listed at $1 million for 2024.
The board’s compensation committee made several key changes in the structure of the 2024 payments including eliminating the all-cash option.
The execs may still choose their preferred ratio of cash salary to stock options, but, per the filing, the committee “determined to eliminate this program feature to address shareholder concerns that executives could choose all cash compensation.”
Meanwhile, the company’s CFO, Spencer Neumann has been allotted $15 million total compensation and David Hyman, chief legal officer and secretary, will be earn $11 million in compensation. The newly established salaries will each be $1.5 million.
The Netflix board committee also approved grants of “an equally weighted mix” of time-based restricted stock unit awards and performance-based stock awards.
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