As The Washington Post‘s Jeff Bezos follows through with his sweeping plans to overhaul the paper, his hand-picked CEO has gone missing from the newsroom.
Multiple Post staffers told The New Yorker that CEO Will Lewis, the former Rupert Murdoch acolyte whom Bezos appointed in late 2023, has gone into what the magazine described as a “state of hiding” since last June. Frustrated staffers have also expressed concerns about his drinking.
“One thing that has damaged him internally is that his drinking is widely known in the newsroom,” a former senior editor told the magazine. “It’s literally something his employees joke about.”
Lewis’ absence has helped fracture his relationship with Executive Editor Matt Murray, whom Lewis appointed to the role earlier this year. Lewis was angry about how the Post covered his own scandal-laden tenure at the paper, according to The New Yorker. The Post has since mostly stopped covering itself.
“I know Will [Lewis] was very upset with Matt [Murray] for the Post’s coverage and for some period of time wouldn‘t talk to Matt,” the former senior editor told The New Yorker.
Lewis’ absenteeism is a consistent theme throughout The New Yorker‘s deep dive into turbulence at the Post, which chronicled how Bezos swept in to save the paper in 2013 but has now left staffers feeling anguished and demoralized.
The Post did not respond to an immediate request for comment, but it denied to The New Yorker that Lewis and Murray had a falling out and said Lewis has “tremendous respect and appreciation for his colleagues.”
Bezos has not visited the paper since before the election, the magazine reported, and a slew of controversial decisions—ending the paper’s history of presidential endorsements, changing the opinion section‘s focus to “free markets and personal liberties,” and his newfound coziness with President Donald Trump—have alienated staffers.
Since October, dozens of Post reporters have fled to outlets such as The Atlantic, The New York Times, and CNN.
Bezos’ arms-length behavior seems to have extended to his CEO. Lewis did not appear at the paper’s annual Eugene Meyer Awards late last year.
Instead, he hosted a private dinner for award recipients in January—though he skipped the cocktail hour. During the dinner, he praised the Post for the paper’s recent accomplishments—despite the fact that the paper laid off nearly 100 people in January.
Then Don Graham, the 80-year-old son of former Post publisher and icon Katharine Graham, spoke up. After outlining the awards’ history, he then acknowledged in front of Lewis that morale was low. Lewis kept his gaze on his place setting.
“It was such a wild moment,” an attendee told the magazine.
Lewis has since derided his staff in meetings, and the Post‘s leadership has said the staff “needed to be disciplined,” a person who spoke to them told The New Yorker.
The Post celebrated its multiple Pulitzer Prize wins last week in its D.C. newsroom, led by Murray. Lewis did not show up, according to The New Yorker, which Murray attributed to a long-planned trip.
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