- Jeff Bezos is more interested in expanding the Post’s technological capabilities than acquisitions, sources said.
- Post managers discussed the purchase of the headquarters of Kotaku and Decision Desk, but succeeded.
- Bezos and publisher Fred Ryan are now looking for a successor to editor Marty Baron.
- Visit the Insider Business Department for more stories.
Editor’s Note: This story originally contained a statement that Marty Baron, Jeff Bezos and The Washington Post discussed a possible acquisition of the Miami Herald.
Upon closer inspection, the announcement of these details was from someone who said they were informed but were not directly involved in the report. The specific conversation could not be verified by further reporting, and was rather disputed. Reporting this conversation has been deleted.
Jeff Bezos has been a model newspaper owner since he bought The Washington Post in 2013, increasing the newspaper’s technological capabilities and avoiding them in editorial matters.
Now that Bezos is stepping down as Amazon CEO to become the company’s CEO, Post employees are speculating on how involved their billionaire owner will become as he chooses a successor to executive editor Marty Baron.
Acquisitions are an area of speculation. The Post did not make one under Bezos, but according to two people familiar with the matter, Post executives have discussed acquiring acquisitions in the past.
Post-insiders rather described how Bezos views the post’s role in saving journalism – through technology, not through procurement.
Since Bezos bought the newspaper, the Post has invested heavily in technology. For example, its Arc platform provides the technical infrastructure to more than 1,000 websites worldwide and has become an increasingly important part of the Post’s business. Arc brings in ten million in revenue a year and is equal, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The Post also licenses its own adtech tool Zeus to companies such as McClatchy, the Seattle Times and Tribune Publishing. One source from Post said that Zeus was also almost equal.
For Bezos, Arc and Zeus are for The Washington Post what Amazon Web Services (AWS) is for Amazon – lucrative, cloud-based offering that allows external businesses to innovate, according to people familiar with its thinking.
An additional question for Bezos is to split Arc or Zeus into separate companies. It could potentially help market the products to a wider range of companies, although part of the services is that it helps publishers become part of a collective that includes the Post itself.
Meanwhile, IT expansion has sparked internal speculation that CIO Shailesh Prakash may succeed publisher Fred Ryan, 65, who is approaching retirement age. (Baron is 66.)
“Fred expects to remain a long-term publisher and has assured Jeff that he has no plans to retire any time soon,” the Post spokesman said.
The Post discussed other acquisitions, but eventually passed on
After Bezos named the Post as a passion that will receive ‘time and energy’ in its announcement as CEO of Amazon, texts and pants between ‘Posties’ began to fly in the newsroom. Some have said they believe Bezos’s total commitment to the Post was the destruction of his legacy. They are largely unsure what his job change will mean for them.
Journalism is that Bezos is apparently very interested in area-specific coverage. During his tenure, for example, the Post expanded its coverage of technology and stripped reporters of stores such as The Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper has been scrutinizing other targeted acquisitions in the past, including a good look at the video game website Kotaku in 2019. The Post has finally succeeded, according to two people who know the matter. (Kotaku was part of Univision’s sale of Gizmodo Media Group to Great Hill Partners.) The Post later that year launched its own video game and sports division, Launcher, through GEICO.
Managers at the company also considered buying Decision Desk HQ, the reporting service, but did not pursue an agreement, one source said.
According to a spokesperson, there have never been active talks with Kotaku, Decision Desk or the Herald.
The Post’s next editor-in-chief is being sought
Although it was only a small (relatively speaking) purchase of $ 250 million for the richest man in the world, the acquisition of Post was incredibly successful. The newspaper has reached its fifth consecutive year of profitability in 2020 and plans to add 150 jobs by 2021. It also comes from a period of journalistic glory after breaking the tumultuous Trump administration from side to side.
“I think the Post has given Bezos some of the best public relations he has had in years,” said one of the Post staff members.
Bezos was a largely practical owner, but one way he will be involved is choosing a successor for Baron, who will leave the company at the end of the month. Potential candidates thrown in include former managing editor Kevin Merida and current national editor Steven Ginsberg. Staff are also working on the possibility of a surprising external hire.
A titan of journalism who became more famous after being played by Liev Schreiber in the movie “Spotlight”, Baron holds a tight grip on the Post news office that is difficult for a new editor.
From sources of posts, it was known that Ryan met Baron in the pre-pandemic in Baron’s office, with the editor facing the news office and watching things. Baron has also kept Bezos at arm’s length over news issues – something that could be more difficult for the upcoming successor.
“Marty was very respectful of Jeff, but very unimportant in discussing the editorial strategy,” a Post article said.