Quick Take
Netflix Co-founder and Executive Chairman Reed Hastings reportedly made a $7 million donation to a super PAC supporting Vice President Kamala Harris for president. But some social media posts inaccurately claim that “Netflix just donated 7 million to Kamala.” The contribution was from Hastings, not the company.
Full Story
Reed Hastings, the co-founder and executive chairman of Netflix, reportedly told technology news publication the Information that he contributed $7 million in July to a super PAC supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
But a viral social media post calling for the streaming service’s customers to cancel their subscriptions suggests that the company donated to Harris.
“Netflix just donated 7 million to Kamala. Bye bye Netflix! They need to feel this people! Cancel today!” reads the post that has been shared by numerous accounts on multiple platforms.
That post is inaccurate. The news article — which requires a subscription to read in full — said Hastings personally donated to a group working to elect Harris. There is a difference.
Corporations like Netflix are generally prohibited from directly donating to federal candidates, according to the Federal Election Commission.
“Campaigns may not accept contributions from the treasury funds of corporations, labor organizations or national banks,” the FEC says on its website. “This prohibition applies to any incorporated organization, including a nonstock corporation, a trade association, an incorporated membership organization and an incorporated cooperative.”
Netflix does have a corporate political action committee, Netflix Inc PAC (FLIXPAC), that is allowed to raise money and make contributions to candidates and other PACs. But it has not given money to a candidate since the 2018 election cycle, when it donated $5,000 to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, its latest FEC filings show. During the 2016 election cycle, it contributed about $30,000, split almost evenly between Democratic and Republican candidates and groups.
If the PAC contributes to federal candidates, it can contribute only thousands of dollars per candidate because of election contribution limits.
No one can donate millions of dollars to a federal candidate’s campaign committee. For example, individual contributions to candidates are limited to $3,300 per election for this election cycle.
Instead, the Information said Hastings donated to the Republican Accountability PAC, an anti-Donald Trump super PAC now trying to increase Harris’ support among conservative voters in swing states, such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Super PACs cannot donate to a candidate’s campaign, but they “may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations and individuals, then spend unlimited sums to overtly advocate for or against political candidates,” according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan group that tracks money in politics.
Hastings, who has long made political donations to Democrats, and a few Republicans, told the publication that $7 million is his largest contribution in support of a single candidate. He said he was encouraged to donate by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, a venture capitalist and major Democratic donor, who has given at least $6 million this election cycle to the political committee opposing the former president.
The Republican Accountability PAC’s most recent FEC filing submitted in July covers donations only through June 30, so Hastings does not appear on its list of contributors. The group files required financial reports quarterly, so it may be three months before his contribution appears in the FEC database.
We contacted a spokesperson for the Republican Accountability PAC to confirm his July donation, but we have not received a response. A Netflix official also did not reply to an inquiry.
Earlier this month, in a statement to the New York Times, Hastings called on President Joe Biden to end his reelection campaign “to allow a vigorous Democratic leader” to go up against Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, in the general election. After Biden exited the race on July 21, and Harris secured enough support from Democratic delegates to become the presumptive nominee on July 22, Hastings posted on X: “Congrats to Kamala Harris — now it is time to win.”
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Meta to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here. Meta has no control over our editorial content.
Sources
Black, Julia. “Reed Hastings Backs Pro-Kamala Harris PAC with $7 Million Donation.” Theinformation.com. 23 Jul 2024.
Republican Voters Against Trump. “$500K ‘Republicans for Kamala Harris’ Campaign Launches in Swing States.” Press release. 25 Jul 2024.
Schleifer, Theodore. “Netflix Co-Founder Becomes One of the Biggest Democratic Donors to Call for Biden to Step Aside.” New York Times. 3 Jul 2024.
U.S. Federal Election Commission. “Who can and can’t contribute.” Accessed 26 Jul 2024.
OpenSecrets. Super PACs. Accessed 26 Jul 2024.