iWorld
Netflix’s Reed Hastings skims $225 mn in stock sale
MUMBAI: Netflix co-chief executive officer Reed Hastings has collected $225 million from a stock sale, the latest in a series of such transactions the billionaire has made this year, totalling $616 million.
A Bloomberg Quint report states that Hastings has cashed in enough moolah in 2020 to produce all four seasons of marquee series The Crown, all six seasons of Peaky Blinders, or the equivalent of about 4.7 million annual Netflix subscriptions, based on average monthly subscription costs. The sales, the latest of which was on 21 December, were made as part of a trading plan believed to boost the streamer-producer’s content creation budget.
Netflix stock has climbed 63 per cent this year as the streaming service has added 28.1 million new subscribers during the first nine months of 2020, accelerated by increased demand for at-home entertainment during the Covid2019 pandemic. In fact, Hastings has seen his wealth increase about $2.2 billion this year to $6.4 billion, going by Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which also pegs him as the 120th richest person in the US.
Hastings sold 437,311 shares of Netflix stock on 21 December 2020 at an average price of $527.26 a share. The total sale was $230.6 million. Prior to this, he sold 213,346 shares on 23 November 2020 at the average price of $482.51. The price of the stock has increased by 9.29 per cent since.
For the uninitiated, Hastings started his first tech business, Pure Software, in 1991, before going on to co-found Netflix with Pure colleague Marc Randolph in 1997.
Another former Netflix director Anthony Wood, who is also the co-founder of Roku Inc, has made hay during the pandemic. Wood’s wealth has doubled in the last three months as sales of the firm’s streaming players increased 57 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier.
iWorld
Subedaar puts Indian original cinema on the global map with record-breaking Prime Video debut
MUMBAI: Prime Video has a runaway hit on its hands. Subedaar, the gritty action drama starring Anil Kapoor, has stormed to become the most-watched Indian original movie on the platform in its opening weekend, cracking the Top 10 across 31 countries and landing in 91 per cent of India’s pin codes within days of its March 5 premiere.
The film, a visceral, emotionally-charged story of a retired soldier, Subedaar Arjun Maurya, wrestling with civilian life amid crime and corruption, has struck a nerve. Directed by Suresh Triveni and co-starring Radhikka Madan, Mona Singh, Saurabh Shukla, Aditya Rawal, Faisal Malik, and Khushboo Sundar, the film is already being hailed as a showcase for what Indian original storytelling can achieve on the world stage.
“Subedaar’s success is a reflection of the growing scale and global resonance of Indian storytelling,” said Nikhil Madhok, director and head of originals at Prime Video India. “The film’s emotional narrative, its rooted portrayal of a soldier confronting his toughest battles beyond the battlefield, has struck a chord. Anil Kapoor delivers an acting masterclass, while Suresh Triveni’s solid direction and great performances from the ensemble cast have resulted in love and appreciation from customers across the world.”
Kapoor, 62, has been here before, but rarely at this altitude. Written by Triveni and Prajwal Chandrashekar, with dialogues by Triveni, Saurabh Dwivedi, and Chandrashekar, the film is a production by Opening Image Films in association with Anil Kapoor Film & Communication Network (AKFCN), produced by Vikram Malhotra, Kapoor, and Triveni.
Subedaar streams exclusively on Prime Video in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu across India, and in over 240 countries and territories worldwide.
For Prime Video, the numbers tell the real story: one weekend, one film, a global footprint, and a very loud signal that Indian original cinema is no longer just travelling well. It’s arriving.
