Washington Post chief executive and publisher Will Lewis has resigned just days after the newspaper announced massive layoffs.
Sarah Kaplan, a Washington Post journalist, protests outside of the newspaper's headquarters on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. That same day, CEO Will Lewis was photographed at the NFL Honors in San Francisco.
Publisher and Chief Executive Will Lewis announced Saturday evening he would depart after just two years at the paper, a tenure marked by controversy and crisis. 'Washington Post' Publisher and CEO Will Lewis resigned Saturday, just days after massive layoffs at the newspaper. Lewis called his time"two years of transformation" in his resignation note, but it was defined by turbulence rather than a clear path, and it ended with brutal job cuts. The paper's chief financial officer, Jeff D'Onofrio, will serve as acting CEO. More than a third of the newsroom was laid off Wednesday after Lewis' promises of radical innovations failed to staunch several years of annual losses in the tens of millions of dollars. At one point, losses hit $100 million, Lewis told staffers in June 2024 during a rocky newsroom all-staff. It was just five months into his time at theHe was effectively AWOL as the paper's scope, ambitions and journalism were radically redefined and constricted. Lewis played no visible role in announcing the layoffs in a mandatory Zoom call for the newsroom on Wednesday. Nor did he publicly address the paper's readers to allay their concerns.The newsroom had lost so much faith in Lewis that in recent weeks that journalists appealed directly in letters to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the paper's owner, to spare the paper from cuts and help it find financial stability. Bezos did not respond to those appeals., the sports desk was eliminated; the local staff reduced to about a dozen from more than 40; the international desk was decimated. Among the layoffs: the entire Middle East team, the bureau chief and another war correspondent. The latter posted she received the email informing her while she was in a war zone.David Folkenflik was described by Geraldo Rivera of Fox News as"a really weak-kneed, backstabbing, sweaty-palmed reporter." Others have been kinder. The Columbia Journalism Review, for example, once gave him a"laurel" for reporting that immediately led the U.S. military to institute safety measures for journalists in Baghdad.Kaiser health care strike nears end of second week as another looms KPBS keeps you informed with local stories you need to know about — with no paywall. Our news is free for everyone because people like you help fund it.
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