Reed Hastings

Over the past year, a host of formidable new competitors have challenged Netflix in the streaming wars—from Disney+ to NBC’s Peacock to Apple TV+ to HBO Max. But the company was prepared, having made big investments in original programming and its deep content library. It’s a strategy that’s proved especially prescient during the pandemic, with Netflix set to emerge a winner. The company added 28 million subscribers in the first nine months of 2020—more than it gained for all of 2019—and is on track to hit a new annual record. The share price has also been hitting new highs, with the stock -returning 60% over the past 12 months.