Billionaire Icahn Won’t Seek Seats on Netflix Board

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) investor Carl Icahn, in a vote of confidence in Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings, said he won’t seek seats on the board of the online video service and won’t sell his 10 percent stake.

“We think he’s done a great job,” Icahn, 77, said in a telephone interview. “When you make $600-$700 million, you don’t punch the CEO in the face.”

Icahn informed the Los Gatos, California-based company three weeks ago that he wouldn’t seek seats on the seven-person board during the current nominating period, he said in the interview. Hastings is positioning the company well for growth, Icahn said.

The comments caused Netflix shares, which had faltered on speculation Icahn was selling, to partly recover. They closed down 4.3 percent to $181.21 in New York, after falling as much as 6.7 percent earlier.

Netflix declined to comment, said Joris Evers, a spokesman.

To contact the reporter on this story: Cliff Edwards in San Francisco at cedwards28@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net