In July, Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) reportedly witnessed a surge in subscription cancellations after co-founder Reed Hastings announced that he is supporting Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
On Sunday, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk highlighted this news, highlighting the alleged political donation bias among Netflix employees.
What Happened: Over the weekend, Bloomberg columnist Lucas Shaw cited researcher Antenna stating that Netflix's cancellation rate nearly tripled in the U.S. after Hastings publicly endorsed Harris.
The Netflix co-founder revealed to The Infomrtaion a $7 million donation to a pro-Harris super PAC.
Following this announcement, several Netflix subscribers who were also Trump supporters initiated a #CancelNetflix campaign, resulting in the worst single day for Netflix cancellations this year.
Here's How Elon Musk Has Become A Pro-Trump Political Influencer Through Social Media
Musk shared the news on X, formerly Twitter, and shared an image showing employee donations in 2024.
The image cited Quiver Quantitative as the source of numbers indicating that 100% of donations from Netflix employees favored the Democratic Party.
While sharing the image, Musk said, "Donations by Netflix employees could not be more lopsided in favor of the Democratic Party (~100%)."
Donations by Netflix employees could not be more lopsided in favor of the Democratic Party (~100%) pic.twitter.com/zz0WNbghpi
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 30, 2024
According to the Quiver website, 99.94% of the total PAC contribution by Netflix goes to Democrats.
Interestingly, the image shared by Musk also showed employees of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE), donating 100% of the amount to only one party, but in their case, it was the Republicans.
As per the Quiver website, 99.36% of the PAC donation by ICE goes to Republicans and 0.64% to Democrats.
Why It Matters: Earlier this month, it was reported that in August Musk made his largest-known donation, $289,100 to boost House Republicans' efforts.
In July also it was reported that the tech mogul, who is currently the wealthiest person on Earth with a net worth of $272 billion, donated to a super PAC supporting Republican nominee Trump.
However, as per reports, despite Musk's support for Trump, employees at his companies including Tesla, X, and SpaceX back Harris.
Two Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) co-founders Peter Thiel and Joe Lonsdale have also publicly announced their support for Trump, but the former has made it clear that he won't be donating any money during this year's election.
According to the Quiver site, Palantir PAC contributions are divided in 68.28% and 31.72% ratio, with the larger part going to Republicans.
Previously, it was reported that Harris had surpassed Trump in the race for campaign funds.
Image via Shutterstock
- Gavin Newsom Vetoes Controversial AI Regulation Bill-Backed By Elon Musk: Framework Must 'Keep Pace With The Technology'
