Bela Bajaria Exits Netflix After 10 Years; Peter Rice Named Chief Content Officer

Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria is leaving the company after 10 years, and former Disney and Fox executive Peter Rice is expected to replace her, the streamer announced Thursday afternoon.

The announcement came one day after Netflix laid off around 1,000 employees on Wednesday — roughly 6% of its workforce, or about one in every 17 staff positions.

What did Ted Sarandos say about the exit?

Co-CEO Ted Sarandos framed the departure as a grateful farewell. "I want to thank Bela for a decade of dedication, innovation, creativity, and leadership," Sarandos said in a statement announcing Rice's appointment. "She led enormous changes at Netflix. She helped broaden our content offering to include the large-scale expansion of unscripted programming and the launches of live events and sports, in addition to crafting and running a world class, global slate of films and series. I'm incredibly grateful for everything she's done to help Netflix entertain the world."

In plain words: the co-CEO praised Bajaria's decade of work while handing her portfolio to a rival studio veteran.

What will Peter Rice oversee?

Rice will control scripted and unscripted series, film, live events and other content areas at the streamer. Rice brings executive experience from two of Netflix's legacy competitors, Disney and Fox. The scale of his new mandate — series, film and live programming combined — concentrates broad content authority in a single role.

How did Bajaria shape Netflix's slate?

Bajaria joined Netflix in 2016, when streaming was still a young industry, according to the company's account of her tenure. She first headed Netflix's unscripted division, along with licensing and co-productions. The company promoted her to head of global television in 2020 after Cindy Holland's exit, and named her chief content officer in 2023.

Her credits include overseeing production of the platform's flagship titles:

• "Squid Game"
• "Bridgerton"
• "Stranger Things"
• "Wednesday"
• The film "KPop Demon Hunters"

That list spans the streamer's biggest scripted franchises and one of its most successful recent films. Puck was first to report on Bajaria's exit.

The takeaway: a decade-long architect of Netflix's content dominance is out, replaced by a Disney-trained executive just one day after mass layoffs. How Rice steers the slate — and whether the cuts continue — will define Netflix's next content cycle.