Washington Post publisher and chief executive officer (CEO) Will Lewis has stepped down, days after carrying out widespread layoffs across the organisation. In a message to staff that was shared online by the newspaper’s White House bureau chief Matt Viser, Lewis defended his tenure and the decisions taken under his leadership, Reuters reported.

“During my tenure, difficult decisions have been taken in order to ensure the sustainable future of The Post so it can for many years ahead publish high-quality nonpartisan news to millions of customers each day,” Lewis wrote.

Lewis, a former Dow Jones chief executive and publisher of the Wall Street Journal, was appointed to the top role at the Washington Post in 2023 as the newspaper was grappling with steep financial losses. He succeeded Fred Ryan, who had served as publisher and CEO for nearly a decade.

Interim Leadership Announced

The newspaper said its chief financial officer, Jeff D’Onofrio, will serve as acting publisher and CEO. D’Onofrio joined the Washington Post last June after working in various roles at companies including Google and Yahoo.

In an email to Post staffers on Saturday, D’Onofrio outlined his approach to leadership.

“Customer data will drive our decisions, sharpening our edge in delivering what is most valuable to our audiences,” he wrote.

Unions representing Washington Post employees said Lewis’ exit was necessary.

“Will Lewis's exit is long overdue,” The Washington Post Guild said in a statement. “His legacy will be the attempted destruction of a great American journalism institution. But it's not too late to save the Post. Jeff Bezos must immediately rescind these layoffs or sell the paper to someone willing to invest in its future.”

Bezos Calls Will's Exit An Opportunity

Jeff Bezos, who bought the Washington Post in 2013, described the leadership change as an opportunity for the newspaper.

“The Post has an essential journalistic mission and an extraordinary opportunity,” Bezos said, according to the Post. “Each and every day our readers give us a roadmap to success.”

Lewis’ departure comes days after the Washington Post cut about one-third of its workforce in a move that affected all departments. He was criticised for his absence during the layoffs on Wednesday, which former executive editor Marty Baron described as “among the darkest days” in the newspaper’s history, Reuters reported.

During his tenure, Lewis oversaw multiple rounds of staff reductions and faced the loss of hundreds of thousands of subscribers after the newspaper stopped endorsing US presidential candidates and shifted its opinion section toward a libertarian emphasis.

Rocky Tenure Marked By Controversy

Lewis’ time at the Post was marked by internal turmoil even before the subscriber losses. A 2024 disagreement with then-executive editor Sally Buzbee led to her departure and sparked newsroom backlash over Lewis’ attempt to hire British journalist and former colleague Robert Winnett, who was linked to a phone-hacking controversy that also involved Lewis.

His highly publicised initiative to create a so-called third newsroom ultimately failed to materialise.

Former Wall Street Journal editor Matt Murray was later appointed as the permanent replacement for Buzbee, who is now Reuters’ news editor for the United States and Canada.