In his
first move into the newspaper industry, the giant online retail store’s owner
has purchased the 135-year old Washington Post Co. in a $250 million coup. The American
newspaper based in the downtown of the nation’s capital announced yesterday.
Jeff Bezos
will take over the company in about 60 days time after finalizing the deal. This
move will end the 80 year reign of the Graham family which has been in charge
of the company since 1933.
The
Washington Post and its website were the only parts of the company that were
purchased as other parts like the websites Slate and the root and the Foreign
Policy magazine are independent of the deal.
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| Fast, eh? |
The process
of negotiations was as secretive as ever as even the staffs of the Washington
Post were surprised when told about the new owner, which means: no leak, no
rumour. It must be noted however that this is a personal acquisition of Mr
Bezos and it is not purchased in the name of Amazon.
It is
estimated that the 49-year old computer science and electrical engineering graduate
from Princeton University spent only 1% of his estimated worth. Jeff Bezos is
estimated to be worth about $25.2 billion and is the 11th richest American
according to the last Forbes 400 richest in America.
The Graham
family had been looking for a suitable buyer as it continues to face the fading
newspaper business. However, out of the six people who were approached, the
Amazon owner was found to be the suitable person to move the company forward.
Post Co.
chairman and chief executive Donald E. Graham and Post publisher Katharine
Weymouth , his niece announced the development to employees of The Washington
Post at the company’s headquarters yesterday.
Don explained
that the Washington Post would have survived even without the investment of
Jeff Bezos but the future and possibility of success was much more achievable
with someone like Bezos on board.
“The Post
could have survived under the company’s ownership and been profitable for the
foreseeable future. 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.” he said.
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| Jeff Bezos |
One thing that
also qualified Mr Jeff as the man is ability to run a business with the
long-term view, something he did quite well at Amazon to make it the giant it
is today.
Bezos
addressed the staffs of Washington Post in a statement on the Washington Post
site. He explained that The Washington Post will be suited to the needs of the
readers and not the needs of the owners but there will be experimentations
along the way.
“So let me
start with something critical. The values of The Post do not need changing. The
paper’s duty will remain to its readers and not to the private interests of its
owners. We will continue to follow the truth wherever it leads, and we’ll work
hard not to make mistakes. When we do, we will own up to them quickly and
completely.” Bezos said in the statement.
He also stressed
that the Washington Post will still be run by its editors and the CEO. Apart from
that, there was no layoff of any of its 2000 staff members.
“I won’t be
leading The Washington Post day-to-day. I happily living in “the other Washington”
where I have a day job that I love. Besides that , The Post already has an
excellent leadership teams that knows much more about the news business than I
do, and I’m extremely grateful to them for agreeing to stay on.” he said.
This is
another of the coup of old newspaper companies as Boston Herald was purchased recently
at $70 million by the John Henry, the owner of Liverpool FC and Fenway Group.
The New York Times is still independent of a rich owner though.
It is yet
to be seen how this will affect the publishing of the newspaper company and if
the online version will have a total makeover. This is Jeff Bezos’ first foray
into news organizations and we better expect experimentations even if it will
be as secret as this takeover.
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Amazon owner Jeff Bezos acquires The Washington Post in a $250m deal