3 Times Netflix CEO Reed Hastings Predicted the Future

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) has been a big winner since its inception 20 years ago, both as as an entertainment provider and then as a stock, but that success hasn't been an accident. A major reason the company has been so successful -- now worth more than $80 billion and larger than rivals like Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) and the recently acquired Twenty-First Century Fox (NASDAQ: FOX) (NASDAQ: FOXA) -- is the leadership of CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings.

As an enterprise combining Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Fox, and tech giants like Facebook, Apple, and Alphabet, are all preparing for an assault on Netflix and video streaming, it's worth remembering that Netflix has as important a competitive advantage as any other. After all, Hastings has transformed the company from a DVD-by-mail enterprise, to one streaming movies over the internet, to a Hollywood powerhouse that is putting out dozens of original TV shows and movies each year (spending more than any of its competitors on content).

Hastings' ability to see where the industry is going and prepare for it has given his company a consistent lead over the competition. Let's take a look at three times in the past when he has successfully predicted the future.

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Source: Fool.com