After just over two years at the helm, Washington Post CEO and publisher Will Lewis resigned on February 8, 2026, bringing an abrupt end to a turbulent tenure that left the storied newsroom reeling. His departure came just days after the paper announced massive layoffs that cut more than one-third of its journalism staff.
Will Lewis exits Washington Post after dramatic two-year tenure marked by turmoil and devastating newsroom cuts affecting hundreds of journalists.
Lewis sent a brief email to employees confirming his exit. He thanked owner Jeff Bezos for his support and mentioned two years spent transforming the organization. The message quickly spread across social media as shocked staff members processed the news. Many editorial employees noted that the cuts meant the paper would rely more on consumer data to shape coverage decisions.
The resignation followed an announcement that over 300 journalists would lose their jobs. Entire sections disappeared, including sports and books coverage. The local reporting team shrank from more than 40 people to just 12. The Middle East reporting team was completely eliminated. Executive editor Matt Murray delivered the bad news via Zoom, but Lewis was conspicuously absent from the call.
Adding to staff frustration, Lewis was photographed attending a Super Bowl party while his colleagues learned their fates on the video conference. The newsroom union called his resignation overdue and urged Bezos to sell the newspaper entirely. Hundreds of staffers and supporters gathered outside the Washington, D.C. headquarters to protest the layoffs.
Jeff D’Onofrio stepped in as acting publisher and CEO immediately after Lewis departed. D’Onofrio joined the Post as chief financial officer in June 2025 after working at Tumblr, Yahoo, and Major League Baseball. In his memo to staff, he emphasized building a sustainable business using consumer data to guide decisions. The abrupt leadership change highlighted the lack of a permanent succession plan at the organization.
Lewis’s time at the Post was marked by financial struggles and controversy. The paper had been losing around $100 million annually. He blocked reporting about his own role in a UK phone hacking scandal. Bezos withdrew the paper’s endorsement of Kamala Harris during Lewis’s tenure, leading to subscriber cancellations.
Bezos praised Lewis’s work and the paper’s journalistic mission in his first public comments since the layoffs. However, he didn’t respond to staff members who appealed for his support during the crisis.
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