Elon Musk; Reed Hastings
Carina Johansen/Getty Images; Manu Fernandez/AP
Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings called Elon Musk “the bravest, most creative person on the planet.”
He added that their styles are different, but that Musk is “trying to help the world” by buying Twitter.
“He just spent all this money to try to make [Twitter] much better for democracy and society.”
Netflix cofounder and co-CEO Reed Hastings seems to be a fan of Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who recently bought Twitter.
During Wednesday’s DealBook Summit, Hastings noted he and Musk have different styles: He is trying to be a “steady, respectable leader,” while Musk is “out there,” he said.
While Hastings isn’t quite as active in the public eye, and he certainly tweets less often than Musk, he said that he was “excited” about Musk’s Twitter takeover.
He added that Musk “the bravest, most creative person on the planet.” To which Musk responded, “Wow, thank you for the kind words.”
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 30, 2022
Musk, on the other hand, had less-than-kind words for Netflix earlier this year. After the streaming giant reported it lost subscribers in the first quarter of the year, Musk tweeted: “The woke mind virus is making Netflix unwatchable.”
If he saw the tweet, it doesn’t seem that Hastings took Musk’s comment to heart.
Hastings said he is “100% convinced that he is trying to help the world in all of his endeavors,” including buying Twitter.
“He’s trying to help the world on that front because he believes in free speech and its power for democracy,” Hastings said, but added “how he goes about it is not how I would do it.”
Still, Hastings said that people are being too “nit picky” about the changes Musk is making to Twitter, urging people to “give the guy a break.”
“He just spent all this money to try to make [Twitter] much better for democracy and society, to have a more open platform, and I am sympathetic to that agenda,” Hastings said.
Musk has caused a stir with his changes since buying Twitter. Earlier this month, he rolled back Twitter’s Covid misinformation policy.
He’s also started to implement an $8 subscription fee for users to get blue checkmarks, which have, in the past, typically designated the accounts of public figures or institutions.
Critics say putting a price on the verification, essentially allowing anyone to have the check as long as they pay the monthly charge, could lead to the spread of misinformation.
The monthly fee is part of the new Twitter Blue subscription, which Musk has delayed multiple times to address impersonation issues.
Musk, who styles himself as a “free speech absolutist,” has called the new blue-check system “the great leveler.”