According to a report in the New York Times, Netflix CEO Reeed Hastings told billionaire Peter Thiel that he had exhibited “catastrophically bad judgment” by backing then-candidate Donald Trump prior to the 2016 election.
Hastings, like Thiel, is on the board of Facebook and felt Thiel's endorsement reflected badly on the social media giant.
According to Hastings' email sent to the tech billionaire, he told Thiel that backing Trump could hurt him in the professionally.
“I see our board being about great judgment, particularly in unlikely disaster where we have to pick new leaders,” Hastings wrote in the email dated August 14. “I’m so mystified by your endorsement of Trump for our President, that for me it moves from ‘different judgment’ to ‘bad judgment.’ Some diversity in views is healthy, but catastrophically bad judgment (in my view) is not what anyone wants in a fellow board member.”
According to a Buzzfeed report on Monday, Thiel began to have misgivings after the election, saying a President Trump might turn out to be risky investment.
“There is a 50 percent chance this whole thing ends in disaster,” Thiel told friends privately, according to two sources who attended an event with the tech giant around Inauguration Day.
Prior to the election, Thiel told reporters at the National Press Club that he hadn't seen any blow-back against his businesses after coming out for the controversial New York businessman.
