Netflix Inc said on Thursday Chief Marketing Officer Kelly Bennett will step down after seven years in the role, during which the online video-streaming giant’s paid subscribers jumped fivefold to 139 million.
Bennett, who joined in 2012 after spending nearly a decade with Warner Brothers, was responsible for launching Netflix’s popular franchises such as “House of Cards”, “Orange is the New Black”, and “Narcos”.
“The past seven years have been the most rewarding of my professional life, and we are at the top of our game, which is why this was the right moment for me to retire,” Bennett said in a post.
His exit comes when Netflix is investing billions of dollars on original content to fend off intensifying competition in the streaming space.
Bennett is the latest high-profile exit in the past one year. Finance chief David Wells stepped down in August, while communication head Jonathan Friedland left last June over an ’insensitive’ comment.
Bennett, 46, will stay on for a transitional period until a new CMO is named, the company said in its post.
Netflix’s shares were down about 1 per cent at $356.73 in afternoon trading.