Reed Hastings, the executive chairman of Netflix (NFLX), has been a persistent seller of the streaming giant's stock over the past five months. SEC Form 4 filings show 14 open-market sales between February and June 2026, with no corresponding purchases during that window. The sell-side activity is substantial: the transactions collectively brought in roughly $147 million, with individual sales ranging from about $1.99 million on April 1 to $28.58 million on June 1. The pattern is consistent and monthly—Hastings has executed sales in each of February, March, April, May, and June, often in multiple tranches per day.
The filings also reveal the mechanics behind these sales. Each month, Hastings received a grant of restricted stock units (coded "A" with a value of $0) and exercised options (coded "M") valued at roughly $3.97 million, which appear to be part of a scheduled compensation program. The open-market sales (coded "S") follow immediately, suggesting a sell-to-cover strategy tied to option exercises and vesting. A gift transaction (coded "G") in February, valued at $0, adds a non-monetary element to the mix.
Over the longer term, Hastings' trading history is overwhelmingly one-directional. Across 202 total transactions in NFLX, the cumulative value of open-market sales stands at $478.9 million, while open-market purchases total zero. There are no acquisitions of any kind—no buys, no grants beyond the routine monthly awards—in the recent data. This is a clear and sustained distribution pattern: a founder and chairman monetizing a substantial equity position in a single company, with no indication of accumulation or a shift toward a buying posture.
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