Amazon.com founder and chief executive Jeffrey Bezos has purchased The Washington Post Co. for $250 million cash and has issued a letter to its employees.
Bezos reassured employees of The Washington Post that the values of the newspaper "do not need changing," and insisted the paper will remain beholden its readers and not private interests.
"We will continue to follow the truth wherever it leads, and we'll work hard not to make mistakes," wrote Bezos. "When we do, we will own up to them quickly and completely."
Despite the purchase, Bezos noted that he will not lead the day-to-day operations of The Washington Post and will remain in Washington.
But changes are coming for the newspaper, and the Amazon.com founder hinted at the upcoming initiatives.
"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. 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," Bezos stated.
According to The Washington Post Co.'s chief executive Donald Graham, news of the purchase resulted in "shock" from his family, who has owned the company for four generations.
"The Post could have survived under the company's ownership and been profitable for the foreseeable future," said Graham, in an interview with The Washington Post. "But we wanted to do more than survive. I'm not saying this guarantees success, but it gives us a much greater chance of success."
The purchase includes other publishing businesses such as Express newspaper, The Gazette Newspapers, Southern Maryland newspapers, Fairfax County Times, El Tiempo Latino, and Greater Washington Publishing.
The sale should be completed within 60 days.
Reaction on Twitter brought mixed reviews.
I've bought a lot of stuff from Jeff Bezos's companies so this was really only fair.
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) August 5, 2013
Jeff Bezos told me (when I was Daily Mirror Ed) 12 years ago we'd all be reading newspapers off tablets 'within a decade'. I mocked him... — Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) August 5, 2013
Correction: Jeff Bezos is expanding his portfolio of profit-avoiding companies.
— Tom Phillips (@flashboy) August 5, 2013
Wowsers. RT @romenesko: The Washington Post has been sold to Jeff Bezos for $250 million. — Brian Ries (@moneyries) August 5, 2013
ah - jeff bezos now personally owns a reputable newspaper? sounds great
— Colin Langton (@somecolin) August 5, 2013
People flipping since Jeff Bezos bought Washington Post. What's the big deal? Lots of rich guys buy antique curios for their own amusement. — Rudy Reber (@RudyReber) August 5, 2013
Odd that the sale of the Washington Post (to Jeff Bezos) both gives the paper a better future *and* confirms the death of newspapers.
— alexmassie (@alexmassie) August 5, 2013
Next Jeff Bezos will launch Washington Post Prime. For $79/year an unemployed reporter is mailed to you free & personally tells you the news — Joan Weiner Levin (@Joanesty) August 5, 2013
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