Billionaire US entrepreneur Jeff Bezos is reportedly looking to sell The Washington Post to buy an American football team. A report in The New York Post has claimed that the Amazon founder is in the process of seeling the reputed newspaper to buy the Washington Commanders team.
Citing unnamed sources, the report said that chatter is growing about the sale of the newspaper after a leaked video purportedly showed publisher Fred Ryan disclosing layoff plans at an unruly town hall meeting last month. ‘
It added that the deal might be rocky for Bezos as Dan Snyder, the woner of the football team, is “sore over the storied newspaper’s series of exposes” alleging a toxic management culture at the team.
However, spokespersons for the newspaper and Bezos later told CNN that The Washington Post is not for sale.
Bezos bought The Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million.
Reports said he stoked fears about looming layoffs at the newspaper during an awkward visit to the newsroom recently. Last week, reports surfaced that the Commanders have taken first-round bids from prospective acquirers and that Bezos wasn’t among them.
The billionaire, who also owns the space company Blue Origin, has been tight-lipped on the subject of the Commanders, saying in a November interview that he has heard the “buzz”and that football is his “favorite sport”.
Bezos has previously said that it was never his dream to own a newspaper. ‘
Former Post owner Donald Graham asked Bezos to buy the newspaper in 2013 to provide financial stability and boost online growth.
While the paper expanded rapidly under Bezos initially, beefing up staff and coverage, it was reportedly on track to lose money in 2022 after years of profits as readership waned following the end of the Trump administration.
Also Read:
