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Washington: Washington Post publisher Will Lewis said Saturday that he’s stepping down, three days after the troubled newspaper said that it was laying off one-third of its staff.

Lewis sent an email to the Post’s staff, saying that “difficult decisions have been taken in order to ensure the sustainable future of The Post.” Lewis and the newspaper’s billionaire owner Jeff Bezos, did not participate in a meeting with staff announcing the layoffs this week.

The Post’s chief financial officer, Jeff D’Onofrio, was named acting publisher and CEO. He joined the newspaper only last June.

Rocky tenure

The British-born Lewis was a former top executive at The Wall Street Journal before taking over at The Post in January 2024. His tenure has been rocky from the start, marked by layoffs and a failed reorganisation plan that led to the departure of former top editor Sally Buzbee.

The Post also lost tens of thousand of subscribers following Bezos’ order late in the presidential campaign pulling back an expected endorsement of Kamala Harris for president, and subsequent changes to turn the editorial pages in a more conservative direction.

While anticipated, this past week’s layoffs were deeper than anticipated, resulting in the shutting down of the Post’s renowned sports section, sharp cutbacks in foreign and metro coverage, and the laying off of its photographic staff.