Washington Post CEO Resigns After Layoffs and Absence

Embattled publisher exits after controversial red-carpet appearance

Will Lewis, the publisher and CEO of The Washington Post, announced his resignation on Saturday, February 7, 2026, bringing a sudden end to a two-year tenure defined by internal friction and financial instability. The departure follows a week of extraordinary turmoil at the storied newspaper, which saw the elimination of approximately 300 positions—roughly one-third of its newsroom. Lewis faced immediate and intense backlash from staff after he was notably absent from the mandatory Zoom meeting where the layoffs were announced on Wednesday.

Public scrutiny intensified on Thursday when Lewis was photographed walking a red carpet at an NFL Honors event in San Francisco while his employees were still processing the loss of their jobs. In a brief, two-paragraph email sent to staff with no subject line, Lewis stated that "now is the right time for me to step aside," citing a need to ensure a sustainable future for the publication.

Deep restructuring shutters sports and international bureaus

The scale of the layoffs represents one of the most severe contractions in the 145-year history of the paper. Under the restructuring plan, the Post has shuttered its standalone Sports department and its Books section entirely. The cuts also decimated the international desk, including the total elimination of the Middle East reporting team and significant reductions to the local news and metro desks.

Jeff D'Onofrio assumes leadership amid newsroom crisis

Following the resignation, Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of the Post, appointed Chief Financial Officer Jeff D'Onofrio as acting publisher and CEO. D'Onofrio, who joined the company in 2025 after leadership roles at Tumblr and Google, inherits a newsroom at an all-time low in morale. While Bezos issued a statement expressing confidence in the new leadership team, he did not address the controversies surrounding Lewis or the calls from the Washington Post Guild to rescind the layoffs.

The union representing the staff described Lewis’s exit as "long overdue," claiming his legacy was the "attempted destruction" of the institution. Executive Editor Matt Murray will remain in his post, tasked with leading a significantly smaller newsroom that will now focus primarily on U.S. politics, national security, and health.

The legacy of a turbulent two-year transformation

Lewis’s arrival in late 2023 was initially framed as a bold move to reverse annual losses that had reached $100 million. However, his leadership was almost immediately clouded by his past as a media executive in the United Kingdom. Reports linking him to the cleanup of a phone-hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloids created a rift between the CEO and his investigative reporters. This tension peaked with the departure of former Executive Editor Sally Buzbee, who reportedly clashed with Lewis over the coverage of his legal history in London.

Institutional future remains uncertain under Bezos’ stewardship

The resignation of Will Lewis marks the second major leadership change at the Post in three years, leaving the publication in a state of strategic limbo. As the media industry continues to struggle with declining advertising revenue and the rise of AI-generated content, the "Post" now faces a fundamental identity crisis. With a newsroom half the size it was during the Pulitzer-winning era of the late 2010s, the industry is left to wonder if the paper can maintain its status as a "national newspaper of record" or if it is being managed toward a more localized, sustainable—but ultimately diminished—utility.