Will Lewis, former CEO of Dow Jones and publisher of The Wall Street Journal, will be the next CEO of The Washington Post.
The Post confirmed Mr. Lewis’ appointment in a brief statement Saturday evening after the New York Times first reported it.
The Post’s statement included comment from Mr. Lewis, who will begin his job on Jan. 2. “The Washington Post is a leading global media publisher known for its 145-year history of unwavering journalism, and I am thrilled and honored to be at the helm of the company as both a media executive and a former reporter,” he said.
In the statement, Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and owner of The Post, reiterated his commitment to the publication and called Mr. Lewis an “extraordinary, tenacious industry executive.”
Mr. Bezos sent an email to the Post newsroom on Saturday evening, a copy of which was shared with the Times, saying he was drawn to Mr. Lewis’s “love of journalism and his passion for driving financial success.” .
Mr Lewis, 54, a British-born former journalist who was editor of the Daily Telegraph before becoming a news executive, held senior positions at major news organizations for more than 15 years. Most recently, he co-founded The News Movement, a startup aimed at young news consumers.
Mr. Bezos appointed Mr. Lewis at a crucial time for the news organization. The Postal Service, which is on track to lose $100 million this year, has struggled to grow its digital subscription business in the years since President Donald J. Trump left office.
The newsroom is also preparing to cover the 2024 presidential election, an important story for a newspaper that prioritizes political coverage. Mr. Trump, a frequent critic of both Mr. Bezos and The Post, is expected to figure prominently in the race.
Fred Ryan, The Post’s former publisher and general manager, announced in June that he was stepping down after nearly a decade in the role. He led a surge in digital subscriptions and an expansion of the newsroom. But in recent years, subscriber growth lost momentum, falling to 2.5 million paying subscribers, compared to about three million in 2020. The Post lost money last year after years of being profitable.
In the final years of his tenure, Mr. Ryan encountered frustration from many Post executives who felt he was presiding over a dumbed-down business culture at the paper. He also clashed with Sally Buzbee, the managing editor, over a personnel issue, and his departure was seen in the newsroom as a victory for Ms. Buzbee.
Since Mr. Ryan’s departure, the company has been led by Patty Stonesifer, an Amazon board member and confidant of Mr. Bezos. Ms. Stonesifer told the newsroom in June that she expected to remain in the position for six months to a year as the search for a permanent chief executive was underway, and promised that there would be no layoffs.
But Ms. Stonesifer later admitted that her statement about job cuts had been “naive” and said in an email to the newsroom last month that forecasts for traffic, subscription and advertising growth had been “overly optimistic.” She told employees that as a result, the Postal Service would cut about 240 jobs across the company as part of a buyout program.
Mr Lewis’ appointment comes after a months-long recruitment process led by Ms Stonesifer, who hired recruitment firm Sucherman to evaluate candidates. The Washington Post or Sucherman have contacted numerous top industry figures in recent weeks, according to several people familiar with the discussions. The people included Josh Steiner, a member of the board of Bloomberg LP; Evan Smith, the former executive director of The Texas Tribune; Nicholas Thompson, the managing director of The Atlantic; Goli Sheikholeslami, the managing director of Politico; and Craig Forman, a former executive of the McClatchy newspaper chain.
Puck previously reported that Mr. Lewis was a leading candidate for CEO of The Washington Post.
A former Financial Times reporter, Mr Lewis rose through the editorial ranks to become editor-in-chief of Telegraph Media Group, owner of The Daily Telegraph. In 2010, Mr Lewis moved to News UK, part of the empire founded by media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
There he was part of the leadership team tasked with solving a phone hacking and police bribery scandal that led to the closure of Mr. Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid.
After being named CEO of Dow Jones, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, in 2014, Mr. Lewis led a period of digital subscription growth. At the end of Mr. Lewis’ term in 2020, The Journal had more than two million digital subscribers, up from about 700,000 at the start of his term.
At The Journal, Mr. Lewis brought a personal touch to his interactions with the newsroom. He was known to reach out to some journalists with short emails expressing support for their work.
The News Movement, the startup he has led since 2021, publishes videos about current events on popular social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube and works with organizations like The Associated Press. The company has raised $15 million from backers including British newspaper publisher National World and recently acquired political news startup The Recount.
Mr Lewis was married this year by King Charles III. knighted for “political and public services” on the recommendation of Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister, whom he had informally advised. Mr Lewis is also one of the suitors for The Telegraph Group, his former employer: he told Bloomberg in September that he had sought financial support.