Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos are the kings of the internet.
The images are from the same company.
The entertainment press reported today that the board of directors of the company approved compensation packages for the Co-CEOs of over $35 million each, with Ted Sarandos actually hauling in 40% of his salary in stock options.
In 1997 Reed Hastings co-founded and launched the company. Ted was his first head of content.
What was once a peculiar "rented DVD mailing service" combining old-fashioned business concepts as different as Blockbuster Video and The Columbia House mail-order music club is now the granddaddy of the digital entertainment era, with the most successful series, movies and greatest number of Emmys.
The streaming era began in 2006 and 2007, and both Amazon and Netflix had the advantage of being their own companies, giving them plenty of time and space to establish their brands.
All three companies caught fire quickly and effectively, not only growing at a similar pace, but establishing a righteous toehold in the Hollywood community and via competitive subscriber numbers.
The more traditional entertainment companies finally launched their streaming efforts in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Disney+ had a tremendous first year, but recent numbers show the company's brand and subscriber limitations, with questions arising about global strategy for sustained growth.
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As the competition has risen, it appears that the growth and dominance of Netflix is unaffected, although it remains to be seen how dominant Amazon and Disney+ will be internationally in the months and years to come.
It is useful to extend the metaphor and look at its generals when discussing streaming and the use of "wars" as a term of art.
Amazon has grown under the leadership of Jen Salke after the company meandered in the years prior to her. The company appears to be focused on existing intellectual property, such as the Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time, to solidify its subscriber base and make it stand out even further from its competition.
Once the Discovery/Warner Media merger is approved by the Department of Justice, the new show will be able to continue its growth.
Disney+ began under the leadership of Bob Iger and Kevin Mayer, but now those architects are gone, and there are questions about what the company can do to remain a must have.
The Disney Company has had more consistent management with its other streaming service, Hulu, with its programming arm largely supervised by Craig Erwich, who still oversees that effort along with the ABC Network, in his free time.
Although still very early, Apple TV+ has remained steady and growing under the leadership of Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, as well as Peacock and Paramount+, which have just recently gotten underway, and each of their futures are still very much.
The steadiest management has always been under the roof of the streamer, with Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos partnering in it successes, and despite some bumps along the way, the two leaders continue.
In the gold-rush culture of Silicon Valley, few will question whether they are worth it.
The accomplishments of these two generals are too diverse to be captured here, but a quick re-cap of some highlights helps fill in why they are still winning the streaming wars.
The day of their premiere, they will release the entire seasons of their series.
The standard of its competition in the years to come will be set by the financing and releasing of Emmy and Oscar-winning content.
The year that House of Cards won the Emmys was the same year that the show "Fuller House" aired.
The first international footprint among streamers is being developed.
The company can be all things to all members of the family if it adopts a generalist approach.
Taking consistently weird, big swings with shows as weird and addictive as Tiger King and Squid Game.
If bets are placed on the right filmmakers and show-runners, foreign content can cross over.
Embracing data but never trusting one's gut.
The era of contraction and consolidation will likely be remembered as the age of the streaming wars. Will it be a buyer or a seller?
Two people who don't have to worry about it are Hastings and Sarandos.
