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Reed Hastings, cofounder and chairman of Netflix, revolutionized how the world is entertained.

Hastings cofounded Netflix in 1997, the same year he sold his first company, Pure Software. He took Netflix public in 2002.

Netflix originally operated as a DVD-by-mail subscription service, but began streaming content in 2007.

Hastings stepped down as co-CEO in 2023 and has been reducing his shareholding; he now owns less than 1% of Netflix shares.

In 2020, he and his wife Patty donated $120 million to two historically Black colleges and the United Negro College Fund. Their lifetime giving surpasses $2 billion.