Jeff Bezos, the billionaire businessman who owns The Washington Post, wrote to the newspaper’s staff Thursday assuring them he is committed to the outlet’s future.
“I just had an invigorating 48 hours learning about our great and important work from members of our Ukraine reporting team, the Climate team, Politics team, Opinions, and Well+Being,” Bezos wrote in a note to Post staffers obtained by The Hill.
Bezos said he “also got a full business update and wanted to make sure you know I’m as committed to the future of The Post as ever.”
“Long term it’s important that The Post return to profitability – a key signal that we’re serving readers in a way that’s important to them,” he said. “If we work hard to understand our readers (and what they value) and keep producing the caliber of reporting I had the pleasure of reviewing with the teams this week, I know we’ll again find financial success.”
The communication from Bezos comes just weeks after the Post’s leadership announced it would be offering voluntary buyouts across its newsroom as it looks to slash more than 200 jobs before the end of the year.
Post leaders have said the job reductions are necessary as prognostications for online readership and subscriptions proved “overly optimistic” heading into 2024.
The Post is just one of several major media companies that are facing a bleak financial outlook heading into the new year amid a dwindling online ad market, general news fatigue and broader concerns about the state of the economy.
Bezos, the founder of shipping giant Amazon and one of the richest people in the world, purchased the Post in 2013 for $250 million in cash.