Back to back with the sale of Boston Globe to the owner of baseball team Red Sox, comes the news of the iconic newspaper Washington Post being sold to Jeffrey P. Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon.com.
With a legacy of high quality journalism and of toppling the Nixon government, the Washington Post continues to be one of the most popular newspapers in the nation, though taking a loss for the last seven years. Donald E. Graham, the chairman and chief executive of the Washington Post Company announced the news on Monday afternoon.
Graham said that the owners “decided to sell only after years of familiar newspaper-industry challenges made us wonder if there might be another owner who would be better for the Post (after a transaction that would be in the best interest of our shareholders).”
Graham stressed that Bezos would be buying the Washington Post in his personal capacity and not on behalf of his company. All publishing businesses owned by The Washington Post Company, with the exception of the Slate magazine, The Root.com and Foreign Policy are part of the $250 million deal.
Publications that would be changing hands include The Washington Post, The Express, The Gazette, Southern Maryland Newspapers, Fairfax County Times, El Tiempo Latino and Greater Washington Publishing.
The arrival of digital media and internet publishing made the Washington Post’s sales slump from 832,332 daily subscribers in 1993 to 474,767 by this March. It is perhaps symbolic that the newspaper, close to the heart of many, should be sold to an owner who changed the game of publishing and is one of the biggest influencers in the world of eBooks and e-reading devices.
Top executives of the newspaper including Weymouth, Stephen Hills, Martin Baron, Fred Hiatt and others will continue in their roles.