Amazon's CEO to buy Washington Post for $250M

Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon.com, entered an agreement with the Washington Post Co. Monday to buy its newspaper publishing businesses for $250 million, including its flagship newspaper after decades of family ownership.
The purchaser is an entity that belongs to Bezos and is not Amazon.com.
It follows other indications of Bezos' interest in news. He made a $5
million investment in Web news publication Business Insider earlier this year, and Amazon last week published a long-form Q&A with President Barack Obama on its Kindle Singles platform.

 In a release, Washington Post Co. Chairman and CEO Donald E. Graham praised Bezos, saying that his "proven technology and business genius, his long-term approach, and his personal decency make him a uniquely good new owner for the Post."
Bezos said he understands "the critical role the Post plays" in the nation's capital and for the country as a whole.
"The Post's values will not change," he said. "Our duty to readers will continue to be the heart of the Post, and I am very optimistic about the future."
Though the deal includes the Post and other traditional publishing properties, it doesn't include more digital-leaning assets in the company's portfolio, like Slate magazine and TheRoot.com. The Washington Post Co. that remains after selling its namesake publication -- which includes Kaplan, Post-Newsweek Stations and Cable ONE -- will be changing its name because of the sale. The new name hasn't been released.
The deal had watchers of both Amazon and the newspaper industry scratching their heads about what to expect. Bezos is known to rain his largesse onto eccentric ventures -- a rocket space-travel project, a 200-foot-tall clock, and a maker of glass votives. His farflung investments mean clues to his strategy with the Washington Post are still to be sussed out.

In a letter to Post employees, in which Bezos acknowledged that many would greet his purchase with apprehension, he noted that the paper's editorial leadership would continue to lead day-to-day activities, as he remains focused on his "day job" at Amazon.
"The paper's duty will remain to its readers and not to the private interests of its owners. We will continue to follow the truth wherever it leads, and we'll work hard not to make mistakes. When we do, we will own up to them quickly and completely," Bezos wrote.

He also told workers to count on change to come. He didn't give specifics other than noting that the Internet transformational effect on the news businesJeff Bezos himself is buying the newspaper publishing side of the Washington Post Co., including its flagship publication but not its most high-profile digital assets.