Netflix Chief Content Officer (COO) Bela Bajaria will receive the International Emmy Founders Award at the 54th International Emmy Awards Gala on November 23 in New York, recognizing her contributions to global television.
Since becoming Chief Content Officer in 2023, Bajaria has expanded Netflix's global programming strategy, helping local-language productions reach international audiences. During her tenure, the platform has released major hits including Squid Game, Netflix's most-watched series with 265.2 million views; Adolescence, which recently won eight Emmy Awards; Money Heist; Lupin; Delhi Crime; and the final season of Stranger Things, which delivered the largest English-language premiere in Netflix history with 1.2 billion views worldwide.
"Bela Bajaria is among the most consequential executives in television today," said International Academy President and CEO Bruce L. Paisner. "She has built a global content operation of remarkable scale and creative ambition, in which stories told in any language can become worldwide phenomena."
Responding to the honor, Bajaria said she was "deeply honored" to receive the award.
"The stories that have resonated most with audiences around the world are the ones rooted in a specific place, a specific truth, and what we have proven, over and over, is that authenticity travels," she said.
Bajaria joins previous Founders Award recipients, including Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Shonda Rhimes, Ryan Murphy, and 2025 honoree Dana Walden.
