Netflix boss says he keeps going back to read book from 1902 because it's better than any business textbook

Netflix is ​​in the middle of a high-stakes battle to acquire Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that could dramatically reshape the Hollywood power structure. But in the midst of all the uncertainties, Ted Sarandos is not looking for leadership advice in traditional management textbooks, writes Fortune magazine.

Sarandos, one of Netflix's two CEOs, says he actually doesn't like reading business books at all. Instead, he often returns to his favorite work of fiction: Typhoona 1902 short story by Polish-born British writer Joseph Conrad, about a steamship captain and his crew navigating a violent storm at sea.

“On the surface it doesn't sound like a management story, but I think it's the most powerful leadership story I've ever read,” Sarandos recently said in an interview with CNBC financial television. “I read it over and over again because … I discover something different in the book every time I go through it,” he explained.

Lessons from a short story written over a century ago

Typhoon follows a captain forced to make difficult decisions with limited information as the ship faces extreme conditions. Literary website Goodreads describes the book as an exploration of leadership, tolerance and the consequences of making decisions under pressure.

Sarandos states that when he first read the novel about 20 years ago, he admitted that he thought of the captain as an unconscious who was putting his crew in danger. Over time, its interpretation has changed.

“Now, what I notice is that when you go through life and business, you make a lot of decisions that don't turn out the way you thought they would,” Sarandos added to CNBC. “The real test of leadership is: how do you manage the situation in those moments?”.

Fortune magazine notes that Sarandos' preference for fiction over management books—or even that he reads—might surprise some, given that reading is on the decline. In the United States, for example, less than half of Americans have not read a book in 2025, and daily reading for pleasure has declined by 40% over the past two decades.

However, reading is an activity shared by many of the world's most influential business leaders. A recent JPMorgan survey of more than 100 billionaires found that reading is the most frequently cited habit linked to the success of some of the world's wealthiest families.

Book recently recommended by Bill Gates

Bill Gates states that he still regularly reads over 50 books a year. Although much is non-fiction, when she chooses fiction, she makes sure to “read about interesting characters who help me see the world in a new way.”

In a message published on his blog in November, Gates recommended Remarkable intelligent creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, a novel about finding meaning in life, especially as you get older.

Apple CEO Tim Cook talked about the books that shaped him during a 2023 appearance on Dua Lipa's podcast, citing the memoirs of Nike founder Phil Knight, the autobiography of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and To kill a songbird by Harper Lee.

Although his image has been tarnished by numerous controversies in recent years, Elon Musk has long claimed that reading was the factor that helped him build his foundational knowledge.

He said that as a child he spent hours immersed in science fiction and encyclopedias. More recently, he encouraged people to read the series of novels Foundation of Isaac Asimov and named Douglas Adams, the author of the book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy“his favorite philosopher”.