Netflix finance chief David Wells resigns

Netflix (NFLX) announced the resignation of David Wells as Chief Financial Officer, the post which he held for eight years. He has been taking care of the customer service, real estate, and employee technology. Wells will be available at Netflix until a successor has been selected.

The company will search for both internal and external candidates. Wells intends to stay in the company until his successor takes the CFO role to ensure a smooth transition. Wells said that after his departure, he will focus more on philanthropy.

Wells has been at Netflix since March 2004, serving in various capacities, most recently as VP of Financial Planning & Analysis. He spent 2 years from July 2015 to July 2017 living and performing his global CFO role from the Netherlands as part of building up Netflix’s European operations.

Related: Netflix stock slides on disappointing subscriber growth in Q2

Prior to joining Netflix, Wells served in progressive roles at Deloitte Consulting from August 1998 to March 2004 and in the nonprofit world before getting his MBA. Wells joined the board of The Trade Desk, a public leading programmatic advertising platform company, in January 2016, and serves as Audit Committee Chair and on the Compensation Committee.

Related: Netflix Q2 2018 Earnings Transcript

Netflix fared well in the recent second quarter as earnings and revenue came in above analysts’ expectations. Total revenues climbed 40% helped mainly by the company’s aggressive expansion initiatives outside the US. Total paid memberships advanced 26% to 124.35 million. However, the domestic subscriber growth didn’t meet the analysts’ expectations.

International net subscriber additions rose 8% to 4.47 million, while domestic additions dropped 59% to 0.67 million. The company is likely to face some headwinds that might hinder its growth and dominance in the streaming market. But these headwinds can be solved by the company’s strategy to improve the subscriber base in the US.

Related: Headwinds to Netflix’s growth

Shares of Netflix have opened lower and are expected to trade in the negative territory today due to the CFO departure. The stock has jumped more than 100% in the past year and more than 78% in the year-to-date period.