Netflix founder Reed Hastings says Big Tech should get used to being hated
Reed Hastings compares Silicon Valley to pharmaceutical companies.
The short version
- Tech bosses must accept public dislike like drug makers.
- Big industries always face skepticism from the general public.
- Hastings suggests curing diseases to win back public favor.
Netflix founder Reed Hastings thinks the Tech industry has some Big Pharma energy. During an interview 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, according to Business Insider.
"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.
He also compared Tech executives to banking and airline bosses, saying they are powerful, consequential, and largely disliked. Hollywood is highlighting tech's ugliest chapters in movie theaters with new films and documentaries about Silicon Valley leaders. Hastings said that tech's yearslong tumble out of public favor is not particularly unusual because large industries always invite skepticism.
Still, Hastings, who sits on the board of Anthropic, an artificial intelligence company backed by Google, said that Silicon Valley companies still have one potential public relations golden goose. "We've got to actually cure some diseases," he said. "That'll help."
Photo: JD Lasica, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, AI-edited
