After a lackluster first presidential debate, President Joe Biden surprised the nation by announcing his decision not to seek reelection on Sunday. Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, long frustrated with Biden’s administration, is now betting big on Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the charge for the Democrats in the upcoming election.

Hastings has thrown his weight behind Harris by donating a hefty $7 million to her 2024 campaign. “After the depressing debate, we are in the game again,” Hastings said to The Information. He stressed that this was the most substantial donation he had ever made to any single candidate.

Before starting Netflix, Hastings was involved in several tech ventures, including Pure Software, a company he founded in 1991. A well-respected figure in Silicon Valley, Hastings has also made substantial donations to various causes.  “Congrats to Kamala Harris — now it is time to win,” Hastings wrote on X on Monday

In early July, Hastings was among the first prominent figures to publicly call for Biden to step down as the Democratic presidential nominee. “Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous,” he told The New York Times in an email.

BARCELONA – FEBRUARY 27: Netflix CEO Reed Hastings speaking at the Mobile World Congress on February 27, 2017, Barcelona, Spain.

During the Trump years, Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin, climbed the ranks to become some of the Democratic Party’s top benefactors. The power couple has poured over $20 million into the party’s coffers in recent years. This hefty sum includes up to $1.5 million to propel Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign and another $100,000 last summer to bolster his now-abandoned 2024 reelection bid, according to The Times. Most of their hefty contributions have been channeled into super PACs dedicated to securing Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.

Hastings co-founded Netflix in 1997 alongside Marc Randolph. The inception of Netflix was inspired by Hastings’ personal experience of facing a hefty late fee for a rented movie, which sparked the idea for a subscription-based, no-late-fee rental service. However, after the donation announcement, the internet erupted with calls for a Netflix boycott after Hastings’s staggering $7 million donation to Harris’s 2024 campaign came to light.

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