Streaming giant Netflix, co-founded by Reed Hastings, continues to see its revenues soar despite competition from the likes of Disney, Paramount and YouTube.

Last year it generated revenues of US$45.2 billion, 16 per cent higher than in 2024. Its operating profit came in at $13.3 billion

Back in 2000, its revenue was just $36 million. 

Netflix has 325 million paid subscribers worldwide, of which 30 per cent are ad-supported subscribers. Its largest market is the United States, where it has 82 million subscribers.

On average, Netflix users spend around 63 minutes a day watching content on the platform. As many as 41 per cent of millennials log on to Netflix, its most loyal generational base, according to Statista.

In the book “No Rules Rules: Netflix and the culture of reinvention,” Reed Hastings writes, “ Netflix does not operate in a safety-critical market like medicine or nuclear power. In some industries, preventing error is essential. We are in a creative market.

“Our big threat in the long run is not making a mistake; it’s lack of innovation. Our risk is failing to come up with creative ideas for how to entertain our customers and therefore becoming irrelevant.” 

Netflix, conceived in 1997, had fewer than half a million subscribers in 2001. Many thought it would not survive and would have no relevance in the entertainment industry-a fad that would come and surely go in a few years.

Today it has a market cap of $400 billion and has redefined entertainment culture. 

“Netflix and chill” is the way many in the Western world consume content and relax. Netflix spends $20 billion a year acquiring and making content.