Amazon.com Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos speaks during a keynote speech with Amazon.com Chief Technology Officer Werner Vogels at the AWS Re:Invent conference at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada November 29, 2012.
Credit: Reuters
The Washington Post Co has agreed to sell its newspaper assets, including its flagship daily, to Amazon Inc founder Jeff Bezos for $250 million.
The move comes as newspapers face unprecedented challenges with declines in advertising revenue and readership.
Washington Post Chairman and Chief Executive Donald E. Graham, whose family owns the paper, said it would be better served with another owner.
“I, along with Katharine Weymouth and our board of directors, decided to sell only after years of familiar newspaper-industry challenges made us wonder if there might be another owner who would be better for the Post,” Graham said.
“Jeff Bezos’ proven technology and business genius, his long-term approach and his personal decency make him a uniquely good new owner for the Post.”
The transaction covers The Washington Post and other publishing businesses, including the Express newspaper, The Gazette Newspapers, Southern Maryland Newspapers, Fairfax County Times, El Tiempo Latino and Greater Washington Publishing.
