Washington Post publisher and CEO Will Lewis said Saturday that he’s stepping down, three days after the troubled newspaper said that it was laying off one-third of its staff.
"All - after two years of transformation at The Washington Post, now is the right time for me to step aside. I want to thank Jeff Bezos for his support and leadership throughout my tenure as CEO and Publisher. The institution could not have a better owner," he told The Post's staff in an email.
“During my tenure, difficult decisions have been taken in order to ensure the sustainable future of The Post so it can for many years ahead publish high-quality nonpartisan news to millions of customers each day,” he continued.
Lewis and the newspaper’s billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos, did not participate in a meeting with staff announcing the layoffs this week.
The paper announced Saturday that Jeff D’Onofrio will serve as the paper’s acting publisher and CEO in the wake of Lewis’s departure.
He joined the newspaper only last June.
“This is a challenging time across all media organizations, and The Post is unfortunately no exception,” D’Onofrio wrote. “I’ve had the privilege of helping chart the course of disrupters and cultural stalwarts alike. All faced economic headwinds in changing industry landscapes, and we rose to meet those moments. I have no doubt we will do just that, together.”
The British-born Lewis was a former top executive at The Wall Street Journal before taking over at The Post in January 2024. His tenure has been rocky from the start, marked by layoffs and a failed reorganization plan that led to the departure of former top editor Sally Buzbee.
The Post also lost tens of thousand of subscribers following Bezos’ order late in the presidential campaign pulling back an expected endorsement of Kamala Harris for president, and subsequent changes to turn the editorial pages in a more conservative direction.
The past week’s layoffs were deeper than anticipated, resulting in the shutting down of the Post’s renowned sports section, sharp cutbacks in foreign and metro coverage, and the laying off of its photographic staff.