Netflix installs Electronic Arts veteran Ken Barker in the lead accounting role

Ken Barker, a 19-year veteran of video game producer Electronic Arts, has been named Netflix’s vice president and chief accountant.

The CEO will take over accounting responsibilities from JC Berger, a 15-year manager of the company who was Netflix’s global controller. Berger leaves the company.

Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann will continue with the accounting function. Barker, 55, will take on his new role on June 27, reporting to Neumann.

From 2003 to 2022, Barker held various positions at EA, the latest being senior vice president of finance. From 2003 to 2021 he was the company’s chief accountant. Prior to EA, Barker worked for Sun Microsystems and Deloitte & Touche.

In a filing with the SEC, Netflix said Barker will receive an annual base salary of $ 2.4 million and an annual stock option allocation of $ 600,000.

The executive steps come at a time when Netflix is ​​going through one of the most difficult periods in its 25-year history. After warning for two consecutive months of the frustrated expansion of quarters and customer losses, the company’s market value has fallen to a third of the level of just six months ago. Finally, in recognition of the new stream of competitors, Netflix announced plans to introduce cheaper, ad-supported subscription tiers, along with efforts to increase video games, interactive entertainment, and commerce.

Neumann, who joined Netflix in January 2019 after working for Activision Blizzard and Disney’s theme parks and resorts division, led the streaming giant’s financial stages. The company has turned cash flow positive, which means it no longer needs to tap into the debt market to finance its growth. Prior to its recent setback, this achievement was hailed by many investors as a long-term aspiration for Netflix.

Financial discipline will be a top priority for the company now after a long period of acting like a classic tech thug who goes too far. With annual content costs approaching $ 20 billion, Netflix acknowledged that it no longer has a streaming industry primarily for itself, especially in the US, and that it cannot make indiscriminate investments. The company just fired employees to cut costs.

“We need to budget based on what creativity dictates and audience size,” said Bella Bajaria, director of global television. The Wall Street newspaper In April last year, shortly after the company’s terrible first quarter earnings report.

In addition to advertising, Netflix said this year that another new source of revenue would be the bills it plans to collect for subscribers who want to continue sharing their account passwords. The company, which continues to lead the global streaming industry with 222 million subscribers, is currently examining a plan to share passwords in three Latin American countries.