Washington Post losses soared past $100M in 2025, prompting mass

Washington Post losses soared past $100M in 2025, prompting mass

The Washington Post’s losses soared past $100 million in 2025 as the paper struggled to maintain up with a altering news panorama — prompting colossal layoffs earlier this month, according to a Thursday report.

After bleeding $77 million in 2023 and about $100 million in 2024, losses continued to pile up at the Jeff Bezos-owned broadsheet last yr — even with a still-well-staffed newsroom, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources acquainted with the matter.

Like many other legacy papers, WaPo has struggled to remain afloat amid steep declines in net visitors and modifications in how shoppers get their news.

Hundreds rally in entrance of the Washington Post’s workplace constructing on Feb. 5 to protest intense layoffs. Sue Dorfman/ZUMA Press / SplashNews.com

An enormous round of layoffs impacting 30% of staff earlier this month still surprised a newsroom recognized for its historic coverage of the Watergate scandal and the Pentagon Papers, together with its esteemed sports activities desk.

Asked for remark Thursday, a Washington Post spokesperson pointed to a earlier assertion on the layoffs, saying they “are designed to strengthen our footing and sharpen our focus on delivering the distinctive journalism that sets The Post apart and, most importantly, engages our customers.”

The paper declined to touch upon its income figures.

Acting CEO and publisher Jeff D’Onofrio — who took the helm after Will Lewis abruptly stepped down just days after the layoffs — and govt editor Matt Murray gave a dismal image of the paper during a workers assembly Wednesday.

In their first major presentation since the layoffs, the paper’s top executives detailed years of overspending and declining productiveness in the newsroom, though they didn’t present specifics on losses, according to the Journal.

Expenses surpassed income between 2022 and 2025 after the company employed tons of of staffers in earlier years, D’Onofrio reportedly told staffers.

The variety of news tales revealed by the paper has plummeted 42% since 2020 — even though newsroom prices have been 16% larger in 2025 in comparison with the pandemic yr, D’Onofrio added, according to the report.

The Washington Post’s losses soared past $100 million in 2025, according to a report. The Washington Post by way of Getty Images

Murray, a former editor in chief of the Wall Street Journal, reportedly nodded to the “painfulness of the moment” following the grim massacre of more than 300 journalists.

He argued that WaPo staffers shouldn’t concentrate on writing up every breaking news story.

“We’re not a paper of record; there’s no such thing anymore in today’s world,” Murray was quoted as saying by the Journal.

He added: “We want to be distinctive, urgent, must-read with every chance we have.”

D’Onofrio — the former Tumblr CEO who joined the newspaper as its chief monetary officer in June — said he’s engaged on a bigger strategic plan, though it should take time.

The Washington Post laid off 30% of its workers, or more than 300 journalists, earlier this month. Mehmet Eser/ZUMA / SplashNews.com

“Bear with me, because that will take some time and obvious care, but I’m keen to get going on it,” he reportedly said.

“And we are going to go after it, and we’re going to go after it hard, because we owe it to this place to do that.”

The latest layoffs decimated local, metro and worldwide groups, in addition to the complete sports activities desk — despite reporters’ impassioned pleas to Bezos.

Meanwhile, staffers are reportedly at a breaking point amid a rising mistrust of the billionaire proprietor after the paper killed an endorsement of Kamala Harris for president in 2024 and added more conservative voices to its opinion part.

The canceled endorsement also fueled outrage among loyal readers, who ended their subscriptions en masse and harm the paper’s backside line.

Bezos’ new imaginative and prescient for WaPo’s opinion part, which he announced in the wake of President Trump’s re-election, emphasizes free markets and private liberties — main opinion editor David Shipley and a number of other columnists to exit the company.

The broadsheet supplied buyouts to newsroom staffers about midway by 2025, however February’s layoff round signaled the end of such offers and a more intense cost-cutting effort.

The tumult at the paper comes as the news trade general stays under siege. CBS News is in the center of layoffs under new management, and the New York Daily News fired 16 people earlier this month, leaving the publication with a skeleton workers.

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