In a stealth move that shocked the media world and beyond, the venerable Washington Post newspaper is being sold to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for $250 million (Rs 1,520 crore)
Bezos, one of the world’s richest people, with a net worth of $27.9 billion, will own the paper individually, with no involvement from Amazon. CEO Donald Graham made the announcement to the surprised staff on Monday. “There was an audible gasp,” said Marty Baron, the executive editor of the paper.
Baron said he had only been brought into the process “last week” and said he was not part of the blow-by-blow that prompted the Graham family, which has owned the newspaper for 80 years, to decide the paper had to be sold.
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Making headlines: The front page of the Washington Post on Monday announcing the sale of the paper. Pic/AFP
“Every member of my family started out with the same emotion -- shock -- in even thinking about” selling the Post, said Graham in an interview with the Washington Post. “But when the idea of a transaction with Jeff Bezos came up, it altered my feelings.”
The Washington Post, like other newspapers, has been buffeted in recent years by circulation declines and drops in ad revenue. Daily circulation of the famed daily, which helped uncover the Watergate scandal and topple President Richard Nixon, has fallen 14 per cent during the past three years.
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