Netflix is going through its biggest executive shakeup in years. The streaming giant has replaced Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria with former Disney and Fox executive Peter Rice — and cut roughly 1,000 employees, or about 6% of its workforce, in the same sweep.
Netflix (Credits: Anime News Network)
Among those laid off were executives in the unscripted casting and development teams, suggesting the cuts go deeper than rank-and-file roles. The move arrives just months after a turbulent chapter for the company’s leadership: co-founder and former board chairman Reed Hastings left the company in June, three years after stepping down as co-CEO in January 2023 in favor of Greg Peters alongside Ted Sarandos.
What This Means for Anime Fans
The timing is notable for anime watchers. Netflix formed a new strategic partnership with MAPPA in April, making the streamer the exclusive home for a slate of future original anime titles from the Jujutsu Kaisen studio — from story development all the way to merchandise, streaming simultaneously worldwide.
That deal builds on a long courtship: Netflix announced alliances with anime studios NAZ and Science SARU in October 2022, following earlier partnerships with Production I.G, Wit Studio, and BONES in 2018, plus Anima, Sublimation, and david production in 2019. A new CCO could mean a new vision for how those pipelines are managed — or whether they’re expanded.
A Year of Retrenchment
The shakeup also follows Netflix’s decision in February to walk away from its bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, after WBD decided Paramount’s hostile takeover bid was the better deal. Between the abandoned mega-merger, the leadership churn, and now mass layoffs, the streaming king is clearly repositioning for a leaner, more focused next era.
Whether Peter Rice can steady the ship — and what happens to Netflix’s ambitious anime bets — is now the industry’s big question.
Source: Anime News Network — read the full story there.
