Amazon.com CEO, Jeff Bezos, buys The Washington Post

For $250 million, Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post, the paper that has been in the Graham family’s control for some 80 years.

Jeff Bezos
Image/Video Screen Shot

Bezos called the paper “an important institution” and expressed optimism about its future. “I don’t want to imply that I have a worked-out plan,” he said. “This will be uncharted terrain, and it will require experimentation.”

“There would be change with or without new ownership,” he said. “But the key thing I hope people will take away from this is that the values of The Post do not need changing. The duty of the paper is to the readers, not the owners.”

In a letter to Post employees published today, Bezos said, “I won’t be leading The Washington Post day-to-day. I am happily living in “the other Washington” where I have a day job that I love. ”

“There will of course be change at The Post over the coming years. That’s essential and would have happened with or without new ownership. The Internet is transforming almost every element of the news business: shortening news cycles, eroding long-reliable revenue sources, and enabling new kinds of competition, some of which bear little or no news-gathering costs, Bezos said.

“There is no map, and charting a path ahead will not be easy. We will need to invent, which means we will need to experiment. Our touchstone will be readers, understanding what they care about – government, local leaders, restaurant openings, scout troops, businesses, charities, governors, sports – and working backwards from there. I’m excited and optimistic about the opportunity for invention.”

In addition to the Washington Post, The deal also includes the Express newspaper, The Gazette Newspapers, Southern Maryland Newspapers, Fairfax County Times, El Tiempo Latino and Greater Washington Publishing.

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