Washington Post CEO William Lewis resigns after sweeping layoffs

William Lewis abruptly resigned as the CEO and publisher of The Washington Post. His departure follows a period of extreme internal turmoil, coming just days after the company announced massive layoffs. 

In a message to staff, he defended the “difficult decisions” he made to ensure the newspaper’s viability, stating: “During my tenure, difficult steps have been taken in order to ensure the sustainable future of The Post so it can continue to publish high-quality nonpartisan news for years to come.

Jeff D’Onofrio, the newspaper’s chief financial officer and the former head of the blogging platform Tumblr, has replaced Will Lewis with immediate effect.

Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and The Post’s billionaire owner, who hired Lewis in 2023 to reverse declining readership, commented for the first time since the cuts were announced on Wednesday ,but did not mention Will Lewis in his statement.

Meanwhile, Mr D’Onofrio said in a letter to Post staff on Saturday that he is looking forward to leading the paper “into a sustainable, successful future with the strength of our journalism as our north star.”

The customer centric analysis would be driven by consumer data in "sharpening our edge in delivering what is most valuable to our audiences.”

Ultimately, this transition marks a shift from high-profile global ambitions toward a more financially defensive strategy for the organization.