A system and method for optimizing content distribution in an electronic network includes a peer-to-peer network of client devices. The client devices are initially preloaded in a distributed manner with various content segments from corresponding content items. An optimization module from a tracking server iteratively redistributes said content segments among the client devices to seek an optimal content segment configuration of said content segments for optimizing performance characteristics of content reassembly procedures. When a system user selects a particular content item on a corresponding electronic device, a download manager of the electronic device may automatically generate content segment requests to other appropriate electronic devices in the peer-to-peer network. The download manager may then download and automatically reassemble the content segments to produce the selected content item for utilization by the system user.