Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-12-07)

Bloomberg Businessweek

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HAMDOCK: ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES. HASTINGS: ERNESTO S. RUSCIO/GETTY IMAGES. BARBER: DANIEL POCKETT/GETTY IMAGES. JAMES: JOSHUA RASHAAD MCFADDEN/GETTY IMAGES. HOWARD: RINGO CHIU/ZUMAPRESS.COM/ALAMY

ABDALLA

HAMDOK

PRIME MINISTER,

SUDAN

○ The former United Nations

economist implemented a

half-dozen major new policies

this summer, maybe the

boldest reforms in the Muslim

world in a century.

Sudan’s government, an alliance of civilian

and military leaders formed after a popu-

lar uprising toppled dictator Omar al-Bashir,

is meant to be a stopgap. But even with

elections expected in 2022, Hamdok has

embarked on an audacious socio political

reform program—perhaps surprising since

he was a relatively obscure technocrat

before his elevation to the premiership,

recently serving in a senior UN post.

In July, Hamdok abolished laws against

apostasy, ended punishment by flog-

ging, criminalized female genital mutila-

tion, scrapped rules requiring women to

get a permit from a male family member

to travel with their children, and loosened

prohibitions on the sale and consumption

of alcohol. Perhaps most remarkable of

all, his government has pledged to sepa-

rate religion from the state, effectively end-

ing 30 years of Islamic rule. The last global

Muslim leader to attempt such a transfor-

mation was Kemal Ataturk, who turned

Turkey into a secular republic in the 1920s.

Still, Sudan remains desperately poor,

its moribund economy made even more so

by the coronavirus pandemic. Donors and

investors could grow less wary, though, now

that the Trump administration has removed

the country from the U.S. Department of

State’s list of sponsors of terrorism, an

anachronous legacy of the al-Bashir era.

—Bobby Ghosh

LOS GATOS, CALIF. ○ Netflix

saw the fastest growth in its

23-year history when it added

28  million subscribers in the first

nine months of 2020.

This was supposed to be a tough year for

Netflix. Apple, Comcast, Disney, and HBO all

started services to compete with the $212 bil-

lion company. The streaming wars, the think-

ing went, would distract or siphon off Netflix

customers. But by the time the coronavirus

pandemic hit, Netflix had stockpiled a moun-

tain of binge-worthy content for people stuck

at home with no theaters to go to and little

new programming from traditional networks.

And because part of Hastings’s strategy is to

release new TV seasons all at once—not to

mention that Netflix spends more than $17 bil-

lion annually on programming—it overwhelmed

its competitors with variety and volume.

At a time when challengers couldn’t pro-

duce new entertainment, the streaming ser-

vice released popular docuseries (Tiger King),

reality shows (Love Is Blind), movies (The Old

Guard), and foreign-language programs (Dark),

making it seem as if current events hadn’t

affected the company at all. Although record

unemployment has forced people to rethink

their spending, they’ve been more inclined to

cut the cord than to stop paying for Netflix,

which will surpass 200 million customers by

yearend. —Lucas Shaw

REED

HASTINGS

CO-CEO, NETFLIX INC.

○ The Facebook fundraiser

she started in early January

brought in more than A$51 million

($37 million) for Australian

wildfire relief, the largest charity

drive in the platform’s history.

As Australia’s federal and state governments

cobbled together a relief package follow-

ing blazes that destroyed an area the size of

New York state, Barber promoted her fund-

raising appeal on social media. On Instagram,

where she has more than 7  million follow-

ers, she’s best known for reenacting posts

in a split-screen style that contrasts the ele-

gance of celebrities and influencers with her

own awkwardness: Kendall Jenner calmly and

coolly navigating her way down a rocky hill

vs. Barber’s eye-popping, panicked plummet;

singer Dua Lipa posing in a one-piece bath-

ing suit on an exercise bike vs. Barber plopped

down on a road bike that’s missing a back

wheel.

Barber’s fame helped buoy donations to

support fire services in the southeastern state

of New South Wales, where much of the dev-

astation occurred, as monthslong fires razed

thousands of homes and killed dozens of

people as well as an estimated 1 billion animals.

On Jan. 14, as donations were rolling in, Barber

commented on an Instagram post that she was

“feeling the love.” To properly capture her joy,

she and her husband re-created a viral video of

a supermodel dancing poolside with an Italian

millionaire. —Rebecca Jones

CELESTE BARBER

COMEDIAN