CEO Reed Hastings has gotten the company in hot water (again) after making an otherwise fairly innocuous Facebook post . .
Facebook 101: No post is innocuous. Any CEO, CFO and chief legal counsel of any online company knows or should know that.
We're talking about Reed Hastings, Netflix' Chief Fumble Officer. After all that's come before this you would think that Netflix' legal counsel would be hanging very close to anything Hastings puts out there. Clearly the post either wasn't vetted or if it was, the entire C-suite should be replaced. What I don't understand is why the shareholders haven't yet asked for Mr. Hastings' resignation.
By posting this data in this way, Netflix has ensured that the data does get widespread distribution! Had they just posted this on a company website only x people wold have ever known. This way they reached x+millions of people. Rather ironic way to ensure information was public ;-)
Well, he leardned that the hard way. But maybe if he had to run that "simple" post by a few departments, the moment would have passed. Not in this case, but lets assume it has something to do with a live event.
I think part of the problem was because this isn't the first time Netflix has had a run-in with the SEC. That said, it seems like small potatoes compared with true insider sharing, where an executive alerts a few people to news that will affect the company's stock. I can understand why he didn't think he was doing anything wrong, but it underscores the need for C-level execs to get a clear understanding from their CFOs/attorneys about what they can say - and when - on social media.
kq4m - Yeah, it was an infraction but not a big deal. He didn't leak the information to a half-dozen buddies at his country club; he told 200,000 of his closest friends. He should get, as you say, a slap on the wrist.
There may be a rule change needed, but it should be in the direction of further centralization of corporate disclosures. Companies already have investor sections on their websites, and that's where announcements should be made. But they can, and should, also be made far and wide elsewhere -- including Facebook.
Rules are rules, and unfortunately even CEOs can't know them all. Hence, always travel with an attorney. Or at least have an attorney brief you on what you say on Facebook and other public but not official company media.
I'm sure the mistake was unintentional and will probably result in a slap on the wrist or maybe even a rule change. I bet there are other Facebook "announcement" like that one out there, but no one bothered to complain?
From the looks of things, it doesn't seem like there's anyone reviewing the things he's posting on his page. However, this incident might've prompted him (or Netflix) to assign someone to do so moving forward.
As Curt Franklin from Enterprise Efficiency said, Facebook isn't public enough. I agree.
why so many corporate social media postings are so bland and uninteresting; by the time they finish jumping through all the hoops and being vetted to make sure they're jumping through all the hoops, they're stale.
Yes, I understand the reasons why it needs to be that way. But still. The whole point of social media is to be spontaneous. Really, did it make that much difference to people whether Netflix had crossed over the arbitrary 1 billion hour mark or not?
Hastings claims the stock was rising that day even before he posted to Facebook, based on some other good news. For what it's worth. And I can't remember if I read that here or elsewhere. :)
Paul Whyte - Good point. I'm surprised nobody advised him not to post the info to Facebook before he did. I wonder who, if anyone, reviews his public statements?
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