Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos Buys 136-Year-Old Newspaper for $250 Million. Why?
The announcement blindsided the media world, where seemingly no one knew the U.S. capital's flagship paper was for sale.
By Sadho Ram — 07 Aug 2013, 01:59 PM — Updated about 11 years ago
Billionaire Jeff Bezos buys The Washington Post for $250 million
Billionaire Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos bought himself a new toy on Monday: the 136-year-old newspaper The Washington Post, which he acquired for $250 million from the Washington Post Company.
forbes.comBezos, hailed by many as technology visionary, called his acquisition a personal endeavour and reassured employees and readers of the 135-year-old newspaper he will preserve its journalistic tradition, while driving innovation.
Bezos’ shocker makes him the second billionaire to buy a top local newspaper in the United States in the last week. On Saturday, The New York Times Company sold The Boston Globe to Red Sox owner John Henry for $70 million.
yahoo.comIn the roughly 15 years Jeff Bezos has been a public figure he's proven to be nothing if not honest. He promised to build Amazon for the long haul and he's been true to his word at every step.
forbes.comAbout the deal
Because of the deal, shares of the Washington Post Co climbed more than 5% to $599.85 after hours - their highest level in almost five years.
The acquisition, the latest in a flurry of deals for print publications including the New York Times Co’s sale of the Boston Globe for $70 million, is another sign of the unprecedented challenges newspapers face as advertising revenue and readership decline.
theatlantic.com
Donald Graham, the chairman and CEO of the Washington Post Co, said in an interview that he and his niece Katharine Weymouth, the Post’s publisher, made the decision to put the newspaper up for sale earlier this year after looking at its financial forecasts
Graham and Bezos discussed the deal at two meetings in Sun Valley, Idaho during the annual Allen & Co media and tech conference in July.
“I named a price and Jeff agreed to pay it,” said Graham, who initially thought Bezos would be an unlikely buyer. “To my surprise, when (Allen & Co) said they would call him, I said that would be great but I didn't think he would be interested.”
“I asked (Bezos) why he wanted to do it and his reasons are the best ones: he believes in what newspapers do and what the Post does and that it’s important to the country,” Graham said.
theatlantic.com
What Jeff Bezos has to say on The Washington Post purchase
Bezos made it clear that he has no magic formula for turning The Post around. The newspaper is the anchor of a division that lost $54 million at The Washington Post Co. last year while generating revenue of $582 million, 39 percent less than it did in 2005.
There is no map, and charting a path ahead will not be easy,'' Bezos wrote in a Monday letter sent to Post employees after his surprise acquisition was announced.We will need to invent, which means we will need to experiment.''
In this letter, he tells employees, “The values of The Post do not need changing.” CLICK TO READ THE COMPLETE LETTER
How will Jeff Bezos impact The Washington Post?
Jeff's purchase of the Post was a shock to many. The traditional book-publishing industry sees his company as its enemy, and just last year, he said in an interview, “There is one thing I’m certain about: there won’t be printed newspapers in twenty years.”
newyorker.comIt is impossible to believe that Bezos has bought it in order to generate profits. Its revenue has fallen for seven successive years. Operating profits have plunged from $125.4m (£81.6m) in 2005 to a loss of $53.7m (£35m) in 2012.
theguardian.com
Buying Washington's premiere media property could make the 49-year-old tech CEO an instant player in national politics. And while Bezos has never been overtly political, Washington insiders expect him to make his presence felt in time, both inside and outside the paper
yahoo.comThere is another aspect we shouldn't overlook in our speculation on Bezos's motives: public service. If we put all commercial considerations to one side, then it's plausible to see Bezos's purchase as an act of philanthropy.
Printed newspapers: Are they dying?
More people are switching to digital technologies to get news instead of relying on traditional sources of information like TV and the daily newspapers.
nation.com.pk
The market for clear and sharp writing about timely subjects will never disappear. However, its form at the point of delivery either is changing or has already changed, and this trend line seems irreversible.
harvard.edu
Newspaper managements failed to recognize how drastically the Web would disrupt their comfortable niche.
Image via wbur.orgBig media will survive on the web even as its ancient print incarnation wastes away. But it will have to get used to a world of shrunken valuations and leaner living. Editors will no longer let writers squander 4,000 words to say what could be said in 1,000.
The debate has become more urgent lately, as a deepening recession has cut profits, and as once-explosive growth in newspaper web revenues has leveled off, forestalling what the industry hoped would become an important source of revenue
About The Washington Post
The Washington Post (WP) is an American daily newspaper. It is the most widely circulated newspaper published in Washington, D.C., and oldest extant in the area, founded in 1877.
The newspaper has won 47 Pulitzer Prizes. This includes six separate Pulitzers awarded in 2008, the second-highest number ever given to a single newspaper in one year.
It is owned by The Washington Post Company, an education and media company. On August 5, 2013, Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos agreed to purchase the newspaper for $250 million in cash.
theatlantic.com
About Jeff Bezos
Online retail giant Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos unveils the Kindle DX, a large-screen version of its popular Kindle electronic reader designed for newspapers, magazines and textbooks, during a press conference in New York, May 06, 2009.
Image via forbes.com
Film Director Baz Luhrmann, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Anna Wintour and designer Miuccia Prada, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos attend the 'Schiaparelli And Prada: Impossible Conversations' Costume Institute Exhibition Press Preview at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2012 in New York City.
Image via forbes.comJeffrey Preston "Jeff" Bezos is an American internet entrepreneur and investor. He is a technology entrepreneur who has played a key role in the growth of e-commerce as the founder and CEO of Amazon.com
Jeff Bezos, CEO of AMAZON, introduces new Kindle Fire HD Family during the AMAZON press conference on September 06, 2012 in Santa Monica, California.
Image via forbes.comBezos was born Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Jacklyn Gise Jorgensen and Ted Jorgensen. His maternal ancestors were settlers who lived in Texas, and over the generations acquired a 25,000 acre ranch near Cotulla.
forbes.com
American entrepreneur, president and founder of internet company Amazon, Jeff Bezos!
Image via forbes.comBezos founded Amazon.com in 1994 after making a cross-country drive from New York to Seattle, writing up the Amazon business plan on the way. He initially set up the company in his garage.
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