Reed Hastings says Big Tech should get used to being hated — like Big Pharma
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- Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings says Silicon Valley execs are like airlines, banks, and Big Pharma.
- They’re all powerful and hugely consequential. They’re also widely disliked, he said.
- Americans have lost love for tech CEOs — and new movies are highlighting the execs’ darkest hours.
Reed Hastings thinks the tech industry has some Big Pharma energy.
During an interview with “On with Kara Swisher,” released on Monday, the Netflix founder and former co-CEO responded to questions about the unpopularity of Silicon Valley executives.
“Well, think of pharma,” he said. “Pharma is hated by the general public, and to my eyes, is continuing to do amazing and positive work. But people hate the high drug prices, and so pharma is deeply hated.”
Hastings also said that drug companies have developed “remarkable” products — like the COVID vaccines — but still draw public ire.
“Did people fall in love with those companies? They did not.”
He also compared tech execs to banking and airline bosses: powerful, consequential, and largely disliked.
Swisher raised the question as Hollywood is highlighting some of tech’s ugliest chapters in movie theaters across America. A24’s “You Can See Everything” has blown up the box office — it’s a documentary following former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes in the weeks before she reports to prison. Aaron Sorkin’s “The Social Reckoning” dramatizes whistleblowing at Meta. Alex Gibney’s “Musk” tracks the rise of Elon Musk’s political influence. And Luca Guadagnino’s “Artificial,” a biopic about a biopic that focuses on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is out on Christmas.
Hastings said that tech’s yearslong tumble out of public favor is not particularly unusual. Large industries always invite skepticism.
“That’s the natural state of how much of the public thinks about business,” he said.
Still, Hastings, who sits on Anthropic’s board, said that Silicon Valley companies still have one potential PR golden goose.
“We’ve got to actually cure some diseases,” he said. “That’ll help.”