Netflix shareholders withhold support for executive pay package

Netflix Inc shareholders on Thursday withheld their support for the company’s executive pay package, in a non-binding vote that followed a call by striking Hollywood writers to reject the proposed 2023 compensation.

The Writers Guild of America West had urged investors to vote against the compensation offered to Netflix’s top executives, arguing such a vote would be “inappropriate” during the strike, which has entered its fifth week.

“While investors have long taken issue with Netflix’s executive pay, the compensation structure is more egregious against the backdrop of the strike,” wrote Writers Guild West President Meredith Stiehm.

The union sent a similar letter to NBCUniversal parent Comcast Corp, which holds its annual shareholder meeting on June 7.

Stiehm wrote that if Netflix had the resources to spend more than $166 million on executive compensation last year for its top executives, it can afford to pay $68 million a year to writers seeking in better compensation.

Netflix shareholders withheld support for the executive compensation structure for 2023, in a non-binding “say on pay” vote. The company said the vote tally would be reported in a regulatory filing. Last year, the company’s executive pay package won support from just 27 per cent of the shareholder votes cast. Reuters