Will Lewis couldn't fix the Washington Post. That's on Jeff Bezos.

"Will Lewis, the former CEO and publisher of the Washington Post, had a terrible tenure at the paper. The two years he spent there, which ended Saturday with a two-paragraph memo, are chiefly notable for a series of cuts and layoffs, culminating in a 30% bloodletting days ago. Most obviously, that's because Bezos owns the Post, and Bezos was the one who hired Lewis to run the business for him."

"Bezos was also the one signing off on Lewis's actions at the paper, which mostly amounted to making the paper smaller while telling the staff that ' people are not reading your stuff.' And slightly less obviously, it was Bezos who dramatically worsened the Post's business outlook. He decided not to endorse a presidential candidate in 2024, weeks before the election - a move that outraged many Post readers, who saw the non-endorsement an attempt to cater to Donald Trump."

"Bezos, who bought the Post in 2013 and then invested heavily in staff, realized a few years ago that he now employed many more people than his business would support. So he brought Lewis in to do the grim work of shrinking the publication. Now that work is done, so Lewis can do something else and Bezos can find someone to help the Post grow again."

Will Lewis served two years as CEO and publisher of the Washington Post and left after a tenure marked by repeated cuts and layoffs, culminating in a roughly 30% staff reduction. Jeff Bezos, as owner, hired Lewis and approved those actions. Bezos also chose not to endorse a 2024 presidential candidate weeks before the election, triggering more than 250,000 subscriber cancellations and worsening the paper's business outlook. Circulation peaked near 3 million in 2021. A plausible rationale is that Bezos sought to shrink staffing to match revenue and hired Lewis for that purpose. The timing of Lewis's departure suggests the move was not long planned.

Read at Business Insider