Netflix’s burgeoning consumer products group has a new boss: Josh Simon, who is leaving Nike to join the streaming giant.
Simon, who’s also a Disney and Color Force alum, has been named VP of consumer products for Netflix. Based in L.A., he will start at the company the week of March 2 to oversee the team that has produced merchandise including toys, games and apparel tied to the company’s original productions including “Stranger Things,” “To All the Boys: P.S. I Love You” and “La Casa de Papel.”
He joins the company after Christie Fleischer, previously Netflix’s head of global consumer products, left last summer to become CEO of Benefit Cosmetics.
Simon spent five years at Nike, most recently as VP and head of global strategy for product, design, merchandising and categories. Before that he was president and co-founder of beverage company Function Drinks.
Earlier in his career, he worked at Disney for six years, including serving as director of production and development at Walt Disney Studios. He also oversaw development and production at Color Force, the production company behind “Hunger Games” and “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” and worked in Blumhouse Productions’ live experience business. Simon holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard.
In his global role as VP of consumer products, Simon is in charge of identifying and building plans across different lines of business in consumer products, and collaborating with Netflix’s content teams on the initial development of brand and audience strategy for consumer products.