Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings is stepping down as co-head of the successful US streaming platform.
He will be replaced at the company's dual leadership by Netflix top manager Greg Peters, who will catch up with the previous second co-boss Ted Sarandos, as the film platform announced on Thursday.
Hastings will continue to play an important role at Netflix in a new post as executive chairman.
"I'm so proud of our first 25 years and excited about our next quarter of a century," said Hastings.
The 62-year-old added, "Even founders need to evolve!"
He has worked with Peters and Sarandos for 15 years and has "increasingly delegated management of Netflix to them over the past two and a half years," Hastings said.
He will support the two Netflix bosses from now on and work for a good course of the Netflix share, but at the same time dedicate himself to more charitable causes.
Netflix shares initially gained nearly 5 percent in after-hours trading.
Hastings founded Netflix with Marc Randolph in California in 1997.
The company, which initially rented DVDs and mailed them out, launched a streaming service in the US in 2007.
With in-house productions of series and films, Netflix has had great success and is the market leader among streaming providers, the number of which has grown significantly in recent years.
Netflix presented a successful annual financial statement on Thursday evening.
In the three months to the end of December, the streaming service added a total of 7.66 million new customers.
Analysts had only expected an average of 4.5 million.
Overall, Netflix had 230.75 million user accounts by the end of the year.
"2022 was a difficult year with a bumpy start but a brighter finish," the company said in the annual report, looking at the weak first half of the year.
Revenues grew in the fourth quarter by around two percent to $7.9 billion.
However, net income collapsed from $607 million to $55 million.
Nevertheless, the numbers overall exceeded market expectations.
The number of customers worldwide recently rose to more than 230 million, as Netflix announced on Thursday.
The platform was able to win new customers with hits like "Wednesday" and "Harry & Meghan".