Washington Post Losses Top $277M, Cuts 30% of Staff

The Washington Post reported cumulative losses of $277 million over the past three years, a figure that surpasses the $250 million its owner, Jeff Bezos, paid to acquire the newspaper in 2013, according to sources familiar with the matter cited in a Wall Street Journal investigation.

The financial shortfalls, which included $77 million in 2023, $100 million in 2024, and more than $100 million in 2025, contributed to significant staff reductions earlier this month. The newspaper cut its editorial staff by more than 30 percent, affecting approximately 300 to 375 journalists and representing about 45 percent of the newsroom. These layoffs also led to reductions in coverage areas such as books, sports, local news, and foreign reporting.

In a staff meeting on Wednesday, acting Chief Executive and Publisher Jeff D'Onofrio and Executive Editor Matt Murray addressed the underlying issues driving the company's challenges. D'Onofrio explained that expenses had exceeded revenue from 2022 to 2025, largely due to the hiring of hundreds of additional staffers in prior years. At the same time, he noted, the number of news stories published by the Post had declined by 42 percent since 2020,...