The Washington Post announced Tuesday that CEO and Publisher Katharine Weymouth will step down on Oct. 1, the first major management change by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Weymouth, a granddaughter of long-time Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, will be replaced by Fred Ryan, who worked for former President Reagan and helped found news site Politico.
Weymouth's departure after 17 years marks the end of her family's ties with the newspaper her great-grandfather, Eugene Meyer, bought in 1933. The family sold the paper to Bezos for $250 million last year and the billionaire said at the time that Weymouth was staying on to ensure leadership continuity.
'The greatest honor of my life has been serving as Publisher of The Post these past seven years, working with all of you,' Weymouth said in a statement to the staff. 'This is just the beginning of a wonderful new chapter for The Post.'
Bezos wrote: 'I am so grateful to Katharine for agreeing to stay on as Publisher this past year. She has successfully led many new initiatives and assured that the first ownership change of this great institution in eighty years has been done smoothly and without skipping a beat.'
(FILES) Pedestrians pass next to a newspaper vending machine offering The Washington Post in this April 16, 2013 file photo. The Washington Post said June 5, 2013 it would start a metered paywall beginning on June 12, offering digital subscription packages at between $9.99 and $14.99 per month. The Post had been one of few remaining major US newspapers to offer its content free of charge online, but it has been facing financial struggles along with the rest of the industry. Readers will be able to view 20 articles or features per month before being asked to subscribe, publisher Katharine Weymouth said in an online posting.'We hope you will consider subscribing even if you don't reach the limit; a subscription will provide unlimited access to all The Post's world-class journalism, multimedia and interactive features and more,' Weymouth said. AFP PHOTO / Mladen ANTONOVMLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/Getty Images ORIG FILE ID: 520316564(Photo: MLADEN ANTONOV AFP/Getty Images)
Ryan, who left his job last year as CEO of Politico and president of Politico's parent company, Allbritton Communications, is an attorney by training and served as chief of staff for President Reagan after he left office in 1989.
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Posted by Unknown on Tuesday, September 2, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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