????Hulu公司的杰出領袖杰森?吉拉爾證實了長期以來坊間的猜測，他將從這家視頻巨頭辭職，不再擔任首席執行官一職。消息震動了各界。他拋出這個重磅驚人消息的方式也是典型的“吉拉爾式”的——在自己的博客上廣而告之。這篇博文并沒有什么傲慢無禮、讓人難堪的說法——以前他曾數次用這種做法讓Hulu的媒體母公司惱火。相反，這篇文章頗為傷感，幾乎可以說是多愁善感。吉拉爾追憶了他在Hulu的奮斗史。他把這家公司從2007年一個空無一物的辦公套間做成一個吸引了超過300萬付費用戶，2012年收入達到7億美元的龐然大物。

????他寫道：“這次離職是我有史以來最艱難的決定之一，”但他并未給出辭職的理由。沒有相互指責。也沒有對行業或Hulu母公司長篇大論的抨擊。一切都無跡可尋。實際上，這篇博文留下了更多問題，卻沒有提供多少答案。尤其是事關Hulu的長期發展前景，以及它在這個競爭日益激烈的行業里如何生存下去的問題（參加《財富》雜志專文“Hulu的網絡大戲”）。

????另外，至少還有一位大將——首席技術官理查德?湯姆——也離職了。這就讓業內專家感慨，到底還有多少員工會跟著這兩位拂袖而去。有些人推測，吉拉爾帶進公司的很多人——包括來自亞馬遜公司（Amazon）的同事和哈佛法學院（Harvard Law School）的同學——可能也會走人，讓Hulu的前景陷入更大的不確定性中。Capital Advisors公司股票戰略總經理錢寧?史密斯說：“只要看見一個公司參與創辦的核心高管離職，這家公司的前途就會讓人擔憂了。”

????一些行業分析師甚至開始懷疑這是不是Hulu開始走向沒落的開端。

????憑借一群大名鼎鼎的媒體巨頭做后臺，如新聞集團（News Corp）、迪斯尼公司（Walt Disney Co）和康卡斯特公司（Comcast）的NBC環球（NBC Universal），吉拉爾擔任首席執行官，Hulu已經走上了增長的正軌，這讓一些曾經最苛刻的批評者都感到驚訝。Hulu剛創辦時，業內那些持懷疑態度的人士曾為它杜撰了個“小丑公司”（Clown Co）的雅號，因為他們認為，這幫媒體大佬沒法讓這么一個復雜的技術產品順利運營。作為亞馬遜公司曾經的天才人物，吉拉爾普遍被認為對Hulu的迅猛增長和大獲成功居功至偉。去年12月，該公司在一個博客中稱，僅2012年其營收就增長了65%。

????

????It came as little surprise when Hulu's maestro Jason Kilar confirmed long-time speculation that he would be leaving his post as the video streaming giant's chief executive. He dropped the bombshell in typical Kilar fashion -- on his blog. This post contained none of the brash, in-your-face dissertations that had so often vexed Hulu's media company owners. This one was poignant, almost melancholic, as Kilar reminisced about a company he transformed from an empty office suite in 2007 into one that has attracted more than 3 million paying subscribers and generated $700 million in revenue in 2012.

????"My decision to depart has been one of the toughest I've ever made," he wrote, but gave no reasons for his exit. No finger-pointing. No long diatribes about the industry or Hulu's owners. Zilch. In fact, the blog left more questions than answers, especially about Hulu's long-term future and its viability in an industry that has become fiercely competitive. (See Hulu's network drama in Fortune.)

????At least one other employee -- chief technology officer Richard Tom -- is also leaving, causing industry experts to wonder how many others may follow the two out the door. Some speculate that many of the people Kilar brought in with him -- colleagues from Amazon (AMZN) and buddies from Harvard Law School -- may also exit, which could create considerable uncertainty at Hulu. "Anytime you start to see key management personnel that have been involved in building a company leaving, then yeah, there's concern about the future of that franchise," says Channing Smith, managing director of equity strategies at Capital Advisors.

????Some industry analysts even wonder if this is the beginning of the end of Hulu.

????With big-name media giants News Corp (NWS), Walt Disney Co (DIS), and Comcast's (CMCSA) NBC Universal among its owners and Kilar as its chief executive, Hulu had been on a growth trajectory that had surprised even its toughest critics. Industry skeptics dubbed the entity "Clown Co" when it was first formed because they didn't think a bunch of big media companies could get a sophisticated technology product off the ground. Kilar, a former Amazon whizkid, is largely credited for the company's growth and success. Its revenues climbed 65% in 2012 alone, the company claimed in a blog in December.