Billionaire Jeff Bezos plans to sell the Washington Post in order to purchase the Washington Commanders NFL team, sources told the New York Post.
The speculation surrounding the move comes after a leaked video last month featuring the newspaper’s publisher Fred Ryan speaking of plans for staff layoffs, which were fueled by Bezos last week unexpectedly visiting the newsroom. One of the sources said that Bezos informed the newspaper’s senior staff in a meeting that he had decided to sell the publication.
Commanders owner Dan Snyder reportedly is refusing to sell the team to Bezos while Bezos still owns the Post, due to a series of negative stories the paper wrote about the team’s management.
But several sources told the news outlet that the Washington Post appears to be up for sale.
“I think Bezos’ people could go to Dan and say as a gesture of goodwill, ‘We are selling the paper,'” a source told the New York Post. “I think that would go a long way with Dan [Snyder].”
Bank of America, which was hired by Snyder to sell the Commanders, has been approaching Bezos to see if he is interested in the team, according to Front Office Sports. The bank “continues to court Bezos – even if there are indications that Snyder doesn’t want to sell [to Bezos].”
Bezos has so far not officially put the Washington Post up for sale. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s name was mentioned by Axios in late December 2021 as a potential buyer of the newspaper.