Netflixis currently reaping the benefits of unprecedented growth in the stock market, especially for tech companies. However, it turns out one particular employee was profiting from streaming taking over the world in a way that was befitting of aBillionsepisode.
The streaming giant went public in May 2002, back when the NFLX ticker was only associated with a DVD rental service and its stock went for $15. But while the company’s bet on streaming content paid off from the start, it wasoriginal productions likeHouse of Cardsthat truly put it on the map. To put things in perspective, a single unit ofNetflixstock bought at $15 would currently represent 14 shares valued at $7,968.66, after accounting for a couple of company stock splits and years of parabolic price increases.
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Sung Mo Jun, his brother, and two other acquaintances amassed illegal profits exceeding $4 million, all as part of the engineer’s operation that started when he was still at the company taking crucial data from other employees. Both Jun brothers pleaded guilty before the District Court handling the case in Seattle, Washington, and are scheduled to receive their sentence on June 13, 2025.
Jun’s trades were conducted when Netflix shares were still trading below $400, a resistance mark that was crushed when the pandemic began and millions of people suddenly had time to catch up on all those shows and movies they had been meaning to watch for so long. Although Disney Plus’ growing competition and affordable worldwide pricing make it more than likely forDisney to surpass Netflix in the coming years, the latter is surely putting all that money to good use as seen with their wide variety of anime offerings.
As if that wasn’t enough, Netflix’s appetite extends far beyond anime. The streamer already has an impressive slate of video game adaptations planned for the coming years, an actual video game subscription service, award-aspiring films likeDon’t Look Up, and, of course,fan-favorite originals likeThe Witcher.
