In his farewell letter to colleagues, Lewis noted that he had to make difficult decisions to ensure a stable future for WP so that the publication could continue to provide quality and unbiased news to millions of readers.
During the search for a new leader, the responsibilities of publisher and CEO will be taken over by the newspaper's Chief Financial Officer, Jeff D'Onofrio.
Jeff Bezos, the owner of The Washington Post, commented on the leadership changes, expressing confidence that D'Onofrio would lead the publication to "new and exciting horizons." However, he did not make any remarks regarding the mass layoffs.
The union of WP employees posted on social media platform X that Lewis's resignation was expected. In their statement, they said: "His legacy will be the attempts to dismantle an outstanding American journalism institution... Jeff Bezos must immediately reverse all layoffs or sell the newspaper to someone willing to invest in its future."
On February 4, outlets such as Reuters and The New York Times (NYT) reported that WP management had laid off about 300 journalists, including in the international department. The closures will also affect the sports and books departments, as well as the daily podcast Post Reports. NYT noted that these layoffs were a result of declining subscriber numbers and financial difficulties.
