Jeff Bezos may sell Washington Post to buy Commanders, investors say: sources

Jeff Bezos loves football more than newspapers? It’s the question the nation’s capital gets asked when his NFL franchise hits the block.

Rumors are growing that Amazon’s billionaire founder wants to clear the way for the Washington Commanders by selling the Washington Post. Rumors were boosted last month by a leaked video of publisher Fred Ryan revealing layoff plans at a rebellious city hall meeting.

Bezos’ problem is reportedly that worried Commanders owner Dan Snyder is still unhappy with a series of revelations in the legendary newspaper alleging a toxic management culture within the team, where bosses, including Snyder, allegedly tolerated sexual harassment.

Some even believe that Snyder suspects that Bezos, who bought the Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million, encouraged hard coverage in 2020 in an attempt to get him to sell him the team.

Last week, Bezos raised concerns about impending layoffs at the Washington Post during an awkward visit to the newsroom. A source close to the situation said that Bezos told the paper’s management in private meetings that he had no plans to sell the paper.

However, one logical bidder believes the Washington Post is up for sale and plans to bid, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, declining to name the bidder. A second source, who buys and sells newspapers, said he had also heard that the paper might be sold.

“I think Bezos’s people could go to Dan and say, as a gesture of goodwill, ‘We’re selling the newspaper,'” a source close to the situation said. “I think it would make a big difference for Dan.”

Meanwhile, Front Office Sports reported last Tuesday that Bank of America, hired by Snyder for the Commanders auction, “continues to woo Bezos – even if there are signs that Snyder doesn’t want to sell” to the Amazon founder.

The source added that Bezos did not hire an investment banker to sell the Washington Post and did not make it clear that it was indeed for sale. None of the sources are close to former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is interested in buying either the Wall Street Journal or the Washington Post, according to a Dec. 23 Axios report.

A spokesperson for Bloomberg stated at the time that “there were no conversations with anyone or any entity about the acquisition. The company is also not interested in an acquisition.”

A spokesman for Bezos said the Washington Post is not for sale. The representative of the magazine, whose owner News Corp. also owned by the New York Post, said the newspaper was not for sale.

Reports surfaced last week that the Commanders accepted bids from potential buyers in the first round, and that Bezos, who was reportedly in talks with Jay-Z about a buyout deal, was not among them.

Bezos has remained silent on the commanders, except for a November interview with CNN in which he said football is his “favorite sport” and his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez chimed in: “I love football – I’m just going to throw it out of there.”

Sports journalists, meanwhile, were happy to speak out on behalf of Dan Snyder, whose attitude towards Bezos is clearly less enthusiastic, according to reports.

“Not only was I told Bezos didn’t apply, people were telling me the Snyder family had absolutely no interest in selling to Bezos,” J.P. Finlay, who covers Commanders for NBC Sports, tweeted. This was in response to reports that the highest bid in the first round was $6.3 billion, short of the $7 billion Snyder is reportedly seeking.

It also came after an unnamed source told Peter King on NBC Sports in November, “It’s never going to happen. Dan Snyder hates the Washington Post. He would never sell to the owner of this paper.

Dan Frumkin, editor of the nonprofit Press Watch, points out that the Amazon mogul — who is currently the fourth-richest person in the world with a net worth of $120 billion, according to Forbes — is known for his libertarian political views, which have long been embarrassing. . suitable for the Washington Post.

“I can easily imagine the owners of the Washington Post better than Jeff Bezos,” Frumkin said.

In 2018, a Washington Post article raised eyebrows when it criticized the “corporate wealth tax” bill introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), nicknamed the “BEZOS Stop Act.” Bezos posted the article on Twitter. Last May, Bezos squabbled with President Biden on Twitter over taxes, demanding the government check the president’s claims that low corporate taxes are fueling inflation.

Still, Frumkin added, “It’s even easier for me to imagine worse owners for the Post, and that would be a national and journalistic tragedy, and a complete betrayal of Bezos’ assurances given to Don Graham when he bought the Post in 2013 that he would do what which is good for Post.

Bezos, for his part, has publicly stated that he never dreamed of owning a newspaper. Former Post owner Donald Graham asked Bezos to buy it in 2013 to ensure financial stability and spur online growth. While the paper expanded rapidly under Bezos early on, increasing staff and reach, it was reportedly on track to lose money in 2022 after years of profits as readership dwindled after the end of the Trump administration.

“I know that when I’m 90, this will be one of the things I’m most proud of, that I took on the Washington Post and helped it through a very difficult transition,” Bezos said in the 2021 book Invent. and Wandering, a collection of his writings.

Now, Bezos’s attachment to the newspaper may be weaker than ever, said Edward Wasserman, a professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, who notes that Bezos’ summertime Twitter spat with Biden at the time generated critical coverage.

“Bezos belatedly realized the obligations of owning the Washington Post — if he didn’t realize it would shut his mouth, now he understands it,” Wasserman said. “It would be wise for him to come out of this.