Roku means six in Japanese, because it was the sixth company Anthony Wood had started. Its small boxes and sticks plugged into a TV and showed apps from Netflix, Hulu and hundreds of others. Later, TV makers built Roku's software right into their sets. When Roku filed to go public in 2017, cord cutting was well underway. The company was starting to earn more from advertising and platform fees than from hardware.

A Box Built With Netflix

Anthony Wood founded Roku in 2002. He had already invented an early digital video recorder. Roku's first streaming box arrived in 2008, built with Netflix. The bet was that a neutral home screen would win viewers. Roku would sit between the viewer and every streaming service and favor none of them. Owning that screen would be worth more than selling the devices.

Ads on the Home Screen

Roku priced at $14 a share in September 2017 and soared on its first day of trading. During the streaming boom of 2020 the stock rose many times over, then fell back. The company kept adding active accounts and building its ad business. Its software now runs inside many of the TV sets sold in the United States. Roku remains public, still led by its founder.

Cover: No. 6: Tama River of Koyasan in Kii Province, from the series "Six Jewel Rivers of the Floating World (Ukiyo Mu Tamagawa)", Kitao Shigemasa. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a river print from a series of six (roku means six).