Washington Post publisher and CEO Will Lewis said Saturday he is leaving the US newspaper effective immediately.
“In 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,” Lewis wrote in a message to staff shared online by the paper’s White House bureau chief, Matt Viser. He added it was “the right time for me to step aside.”
Lewis, born in the UK, had worked at The Wall Street Journal before joining The Washington Post in January 2024.
During his time at the paper, thousands of subscribers were lost after owner Jeff Bezos in October 2024 ordered The Post to withdraw its planned editorial endorsement — which had been intended for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris rather than Donald Trump. Subsequent shifts toward a more conservative editorial stance also prompted further subscriber departures.
Jeff D’Onofrio, who became the paper’s chief financial officer last year, will replace Lewis. In a note to staff, D’Onofrio said, “We are ending a hard week of change with more change.”
Mass layoffs spark uproar
Earlier this week the paper announced large-scale job cuts. The layoffs, though expected, were deeper than many anticipated, leading to the shutdown of the sports section and steep reductions in foreign, metro news and photo staffs.
The exact number of journalists let go has not been disclosed by The Post; The New York Times reported approximately 300 reporters were laid off. Before the cuts, The Post employed about 800 journalists.
Unions representing Post staff said Lewis’ departure was warranted. “Will Lewis’s exit is long overdue,” the Washington Post Guild said. “His legacy will be the attempted destruction of a great American journalism institution. But it’s not too late to save the Post. Jeff Bezos must immediately rescind these layoffs or sell the paper to someone willing to invest in its future.”
Hundreds protested outside the newspaper’s Washington, DC, headquarters on Thursday.
Martin Baron, the Post’s first editor under Bezos, criticized the owner this week, accusing him of trying to win favor with President Donald Trump and calling the situation “a case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destruction.”
Edited by: Sean Sinico
