Who is the Netflix CEO who promised a 3.3 trillion investment to President Yoon?

Ted Sarandos, Netflix Co-CEO
Head of Content Acquisition and Production Team
The First to Recognize the Potential of Korean Content

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is on a state visit to the United States, held his first official schedule on the 24th (local time) by meeting with Ted Sarandos, Co-CEO of Netflix. At this meeting, CEO Sarandos announced an investment of $2.5 billion (3.3 trillion KRW) over four years.

Ted Sarandos, Co-Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Netflix

CEO Sarandos oversees the entire content acquisition and production team at Netflix. He contributed to Netflix's rapid rise as a content powerhouse by delivering numerous hits such as "House of Cards" and "Orange Is the New Black."

CEO Sarandos gained his sense of popular content and knowledge of movies and TV series while working at a video store during his childhood. In 1982, he was promoted to store manager of Arizona Videocassette West, a video rental chain, managing a total of eight stores until 1988. In 1988, he was appointed as the sales and operations head for the western region at ETD, one of the largest video distributors in the United States. Subsequently, until March 2000, CEO Sarandos served as Vice President of Product and Merchandising at Video City West Coast Video, a video chain with about 500 stores. After meeting Netflix founder Reed Hastings in 1999, CEO Sarandos joined Netflix in 2000.

CEO Sarandos was also the first to recognize the potential of Korean content. In 2016, he pushed for the production of Bong Joon-ho’s Netflix global film "Okja." Since then, he has shown trust in the global creative capabilities of Korean creators. Regarding his work with Bong Joon-ho, he said, "It was the most amazing event in my career and Netflix’s history. I had admired Bong Joon-ho for a long time. I was eager for the opportunity to work with him, and it was another challenge."

At an event in 2021, CEO Sarandos stated, "Korean content has established itself as a global entertainment trend," adding, "We will continue to invest in and collaborate with Korean storytellers regardless of genre or format." He also said, "We were all chased by zombies in 'Kingdom,' danced along with 'BLACKPINK: Light Up the World,' and faced the realities of teenagers in 'Extracurricular.' At the center of all this was Korea."

Kim Min-young, Netflix Vice President of Content for Asia Pacific (excluding India) (from left), Kang Dong-han, Vice President of Korean Content, Bella Bajaria, Netflix Chief Content Officer (CCO)

At the meeting with President Yoon, not only CEO Sarandos but also key Netflix executives were present. Kim Min-young, Vice President and Head of Content for Netflix Asia Pacific (excluding India), is one of the 25 executives at the vice president level or above, including Netflix’s C-level officers. She joined Netflix in 2016 as the first person in charge of Asian content and has led the expansion of Korean content. Currently, she oversees all content including films, variety shows, and dramas across the Asia Pacific region excluding India.

The person in charge of Korean content production is Kang Dong-han, Vice President and Head of Korean Content. VP Kang leads the content team at Netflix’s Seoul office, overseeing the discovery and global introduction of "Made in Korea" content. Bella Bajaria, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer (CCO), has also been responsible since 2020 for scripted and reality series produced locally and in English worldwide, including Korea. Through this, Netflix has introduced works from various countries such as Spain’s "La Casa de Papel" (Money Heist), Poland’s "The Witcher," and India’s "Sacred Games."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.