According to anonymous insiders, Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos is considering selling the Washington Post and reinvesting the cash to buy the Washington Commanders.
The speculation comes on the heels of December’s news that Post publisher Fred Ryan told employees that layoffs are in the near future.
However, despite the speculation, Bezos reportedly sat with several of the paper’s employees and claimed he had no plans to sell the paper, according to the New York Post.
Not everyone believes Bezos’ claim he is not looking to sell the paper, though, and at least one possible buyer has already said plans are being made in case the sale is announced. In addition, billionaire and one-time New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been open about his desire to buy up the Wall Street Journal or the Washington Post.
One complication for such a deal is current Commanders Owner Dan Snyder’s open disdain for the Washington Post.
Snyder has often accused the Post of purposefully targeting him and giving the many investigations into his conduct a lot of ink.
Redskins owner Daniel Snyder on the sideline before a Monday Night Football game against the Chicago Bears at FedEx Field. (Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post via Getty Images)
But if Bezos unloads the paper first, that might change the equation. Indeed, one source even said that if Bezos sold the paper, it would “go a long way” towards making Snyder more amenable to selling the team to the billionaire Amazon owner.
On top of all that, the Bank of America, which Snyder hired to help him sell the team, has been openly courting Bezos even though Snyder is reluctant to sell the team to the Washington Post’s owner.
In Nov., it was reported that actor Matthew McConaughey was working with Bezos and rapper Jay Z to mount a bid to buy the Commanders. But Bezos’ name was not among the groups who were reportedly making offers to Snyder to buy the Commanders.
Jay-Z attends the Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Ceremony for DJ Khaled on April 11, 2022, in Hollywood, California. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Regardless, the official position is that the Post is not for sale.
On the other hand, Bezos has also been open that being a newspaper man is not really his bag, and the only reason he bought the paper in 2013 is that former Post Owner Donald Graham asked him to do so to prevent it from going under.
“I know that when I’m 90, it’s going to be one of the things I’m most proud of, that I took on the Washington Post and helped it through a very rough transition,” Bezos said in the 2021 book Invent and Wander.
So, a sale of the paper does not seem to be out of the question.
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