Netflix Replaces Bela Bajaria With Peter Rice Amid Cuts and Share Pressure

Netflix's content leadership shakeup became public on October 15, when reports emerged that Bela Bajaria was leaving after a decade at the company. She had held the chief content officer job since 2023, according to The New York Times.

Her departure came as Netflix was shedding about 1,000 employees, The Hollywood Reporter reported. The change put a new executive in charge of content while the company was cutting its workforce.

On October 15, Netflix named former Disney executive Peter Rice as Bajaria's replacement. Deadline Hollywood reported that Rice would start on October 26 and oversee all content at Netflix. The announcement followed the first reports of Bajaria's exit almost immediately.

The same day, the Financial Times described the replacement as an effort to arrest Netflix's declining share price. Rice, a former Disney and Fox executive, was taking over under financial pressure rather than through a routine succession.

On October 16, Deadline Hollywood reported that the change came amid a sliding stock price and slowing engagement growth. Its reporting also described staff, already worn down by layoffs, bracing for further upheaval.

That day, The Hollywood Reporter described Netflix's competition with YouTube and suggested a possible renewed emphasis on the US market and large, attention-grabbing projects with franchise potential. That was a reported possibility, not a confirmed content plan.

By October 20, the shakeup had widened. DER SPIEGEL reported that Netflix had also fired film chief Dan Lin before its quarterly report. Separately, Business Insider reported that Netflix shares fell 6% despite an earnings beat.

Rice has been named chief content officer, with his October 26 start date still ahead. His remit covers all Netflix content, according to Deadline Hollywood, making this a change at the top of the whole content operation rather than one programming division.

The market pressure has not lifted with the appointment. Business Insider reported the 6% share decline alongside co-CEO Ted Sarandos's efforts to boost growth. The latest coverage also places Dan Lin's dismissal alongside Bajaria's departure and the roughly 1,000 job cuts.

The next scheduled step is Rice's arrival on October 26. The open question is how he will change Netflix's content priorities after the leadership departures and layoffs. The Hollywood Reporter raised the possibility of a stronger US focus and more franchise-oriented projects, but the provided coverage does not establish that Netflix has adopted that strategy.