WASHINGTON: The Washington Post, the legendary newspaper that broke the Watergate scandal, is being sold to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as it seeks to survive the onslaught of the Internet.
Donald Graham, grandson of Eugene Meyer, who bought the Post during the Great Depression in 1933, stunned the US media industry Monday, announcing the sale of the storied title to Bezos for $250 million.
Graham, chief executive of the Washington Post Co., had given no hint that the newspaper of record for the nation's capital was up for sale, despite sinking earnings and plunging subscriptions.
But he made clear that it was the formidable challenge of the Internet to traditional publishing that brought about the deal, after annual operating losses more than doubled to $53.7 million last year and were $14.8 million in the second quarter of this year.
Graham admitted that he and his niece, Post publisher Katharine Weymouth, "have no answers" to the challenge the newspaper faces, after seven years of falling revenues.
"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 in a statement.
Donald Graham, grandson of Eugene Meyer, who bought the Post during the Great Depression in 1933, stunned the US media industry Monday, announcing the sale of the storied title to Bezos for $250 million.
Graham, chief executive of the Washington Post Co., had given no hint that the newspaper of record for the nation's capital was up for sale, despite sinking earnings and plunging subscriptions.
But he made clear that it was the formidable challenge of the Internet to traditional publishing that brought about the deal, after annual operating losses more than doubled to $53.7 million last year and were $14.8 million in the second quarter of this year.
Graham admitted that he and his niece, Post publisher Katharine Weymouth, "have no answers" to the challenge the newspaper faces, after seven years of falling revenues.
"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 in a statement.
--AFP via Astro Awani
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