According to the New York Post, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is preparing to sell the Washington Post in order to clear way for the purchase of the Washington Commanders. Bezos bought the Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million, and according to reports, he recently made a visit to the newsroom where he announced potential layoffs. The reasoning behind the sale is that current Commanders owner, Daniel Snyder, holds a grudge against Bezos for the Post’s coverage of the teams sexual harassment scandals. Some even say that Bezos encouraged critical coverage of the story in 2020 in order to force Snyder to sell the team.
A source close to the situation said, “I think Bezos’ people could go to Dan and say as a gesture of goodwill, ‘We are selling the paper.’ I think that would go a long way with Dan.”
Many suitors of the Washington Post have heard that it may soon be for sale and there are bids lined up. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has previously stated that he would be interested in buying the Wall Street Journal or Washington Post if they became available.
According to the New York Post:
Bezos has been tight-lipped on the subject of the Commanders, apart from a November CNN interview in which he said football is his “favorite sport” and his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez chimed in, “I do like football — I’m just going to throw that out there.”
Sports journalists, meanwhile, have been happy to weigh in on behalf of Dan Snyder — whose disposition toward Bezos is decidedly less enthusiastic, according to reports.
“Not only was I told Bezos didn’t submit a bid, I’ve had people tell me the Snyder family has absolutely no interest in selling to Bezos,” JP Finlay, who covers the Commanders for NBC Sports, tweeted last weekend. That was in response to reports that the highest first-round bid came in at $6.3 billion — short of the $7 billion-plus that Snyder reportedly is seeking.
That also was after an unnamed source told NBC Sports’ Peter King in November, “It’ll never happen. Dan Snyder detests the Washington Post. No way he’d sell to the owner of that paper.”
Dan Froomkin, editor of the nonprofit Press Watch, notes that the Amazon tycoon — currently the world’s fourth-richest person with a net worth of $120 billion, according to Forbes — has been known for libertarian-leaning political views that have long been an awkward fit for the Washington Post.
“I can easily imagine better owners for the Washington Post than Jeff Bezos,” Froomkin said.
