Days after big layoffs at The Washington Post, publisher Will Lewis says he's stepping down

Washington Post publisher Will Lewis resigned from his position on Saturday, February 7, 2026, following a tumultuous tenure that culminated in the layoff of one-third of the newspaper's workforce earlier in the week. The departure was announced in an email to staff just three days after the organization implemented drastic cuts aimed at ensuring financial sustainability, a move that drew sharp criticism from employees and journalism experts alike. Lewis, a former Wall Street Journal executive who took the helm in January 2024, characterized his exit as the right time to step aside after two years of organizational transformation. Jeff D'Onofrio, the paper’s chief financial officer, has been appointed to serve as the temporary publisher. The resignation follows a period of intense internal and external pressure for the storried publication. The recent layoffs were significantly deeper than anticipated, resulting in the total shutdown of the Post's renowned sports section, the elimination of the photography department, and substantial staff reductions in metropolitan and international bureaus. These cuts followed a massive loss of subscribers in 2024 after billionaire owner Jeff Bezos blocked a planned endorsement of Kamala Harris, leading to accusations that the paper was sacrificing its editorial independence to avoid political friction. Former editor Martin Baron famously described the era as a "case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destruction." Lewis's leadership was also plagued by ethical controversies and cultural clashes. His tenure saw the sudden departure of executive editor Sally Buzbee and the withdrawal of his hand-picked successor, Robert Winnett, amid allegations regarding their past journalistic practices in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, Lewis often sparred with his own reporters, at one point bluntly telling them that not enough people were reading their work to justify current operations. While Bezos praised the new interim leadership as being positioned for a "thriving next chapter," the Washington Post Guild responded to the news by calling Lewis’s exit long overdue, urging the owner to either rescind the layoffs or sell the institution to a more committed investor.