Washington Publish creator and CEO Will Lewis has resigned right this moment, days after sweeping layoffs precipitated newsroom backlash, elevating recent questions on leadership, morale and the paper’s direction below Jeff Bezos
In a switch that blindsided many within The Washington Publish, creator and chief executive Will Lewis has right this moment resigned, appropriate days after the newspaper reduce roughly one-third of its crew—almost 300 journalists—in one of many largest newsroom layoffs in US media history.
Lewis, who took over the corporate in early 2024 and was once viewed as Jeff Bezos’s hand-picked chief, provided his departure in a crew e-mail on Saturday night. The announcement came on the heels of intense backlash from reporters, editors and industry watchers, a mode of whom had criticised every the scale of the layoffs and Lewis’s leadership style.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
“After two years of transformation at The Washington Publish, now could well well be the staunch time for me to step apart,” Lewis wrote. “I desire to thank Jeff Bezos for his make stronger and leadership at some level of my tenure as CEO and Publisher. The institution could well well now not dangle a greater owner,” he added.
The resignations comes amid deep discontent within the newsroom following final week’s cuts, which shuttered key departments and reduced protection at some level of sports activities, books, local news and global reporting. Many journalists described the
layoffs as a devastating blow to the Publish’s skill to file.
Critics were especially intelligent about Lewis’s absence at some level of the layoffs’ announcement, and even highlighted photography of him attending Noteworthy Bowl festivities appropriate as colleagues were shedding jobs.
Lewis defended his decisions in the memo, asserting the adjustments were mandatory “to salvage sure the sustainable scheme forward for The Publish so it’ll for a couple of years ahead publish high-quality nonpartisan news to hundreds and hundreds of potentialities day to day.”
What’s subsequent, and who’s responsible?
With Lewis long previous, chief financial officer Jeff D’Onofrio steps up as performing creator and CEO. In a teach to crew, D’Onofrio acknowledged the
now not easy moment for the news industry but expressed self belief in the paper’s direction.
The Washington Publish is asserting Jeff D’Onofrio as its performing Publisher and CEO, efficient straight away. pic.twitter.com/38eGFkSXjL
— Washington Publish Communications (@WashPostComms) February 7, 2026
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Bezos—who provided the Publish in 2013 and has rarely ever spoken publicly about internal management—issued a disclose praising the journalistic mission and pointing to the “unparalleled different” ahead, at the same time as questions linger in regards to the newsroom’s future below recent leadership.
