Netflix founder and executive chair Reed Hastings has given two million shares of the streaming company, currently worth about $1.1 billion (£866m), to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
On January 24, Hastings disposed of the shares, which were given as a gift to an unidentified entity, per a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. The transaction code on the statement of change in beneficial ownership was marked “G", indicating a “bona fide gift”, according to the SEC.
The donation was a significant chunk of Hastings’ Netflix stock, about 40 per cent. However, the recipient of the shares was not disclosed.
A source familiar with the transaction said that Hastings granted the 2 million shares to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a charitable foundation that says it works to “bridge critical gaps and divisions to deliver strategies that reduce systemic inequities” in the Bay area.
Hastings currently still owns 2.99 million Netflix shares through his family trust, worth about $1.72bn (£1.36bn), in addition to several million stock options. Before the most recent stock transaction, Hastings had an estimated net worth of about $6.6bn (£5.2bn), mostly tied to his holdings in Netflix stock and options, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Hastings became executive chairman of Netflix in 2023, stepping down as CEO one year ago after serving in the role for 25 years. He currently sits on a number of boards and non-profit organisations. Hastings was on the board of Microsoft from 2007 to 2012, and the board of directors of Facebook from June 2011 to May 2019.
He is also the majority owner of Powder Mountain ski resort in Utah after his $100m (£79m) investment in 2023.
In 2020, Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin, gave $120m (£95m) to Spelman College, Morehouse College, and the United Negro College Fund for scholarships to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).Last year, Hastings donated $20m (£16m) to Minerva University, a next-generation institution of higher education. Hastings and Quillin also donated $10m (£8m) to Tougaloo College, a HBCU in Mississippi.
