One-click payment: tracking Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post purchase

Jeff Bezos’ 60 Minutes interview has been making waves for the drone-delivery announcement, but a new web segment also provides a window into the Amazon founder’s purchase of the Washington Post earlier this year. In the interview, Bezos says he had never considered buying The Washington Post until he was approached by Post CEO Don Graham, who asked if he would be interested in buying the paper.

“I didn’t seek to buy the Washington Post,” Bezos told 60 Minutes. “My first question was, ‘Why would I even be a logical buyer? I don’t know anything about the news business.’” But over a long courtship period that Bezos says spanned multiple conversations, Graham convinced Bezos. The key point was Graham’s contention that Amazon’s approach to technologically driven delivery could be crucial to the Post’s future, something many Post employees have since confirmed as a priority for the paper going forward. Still, by the sound of the interview, Bezos took some convincing.

Two months ago, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos surprised the newspaper by announcing he planned to purchase The Washington Post for about $250 million. Now, as of today, the transition is complete — Bezos formally took over as owner today, ending the 80-year reign of the Graham family at one of the nation’s most prominent newspapers. Bezos now has his work cut out for him — like much of the newspaper industry, the Post has been losing readers and money for several years. At the time of Bezos’ announcement, the Washington Post Company reported an operating loss of $49.3 million in the first six months of 2013, compared to a $33.2 million loss for the same period a year earlier.

Despite the difficult financial situation, the employees of the Post appeared energized by their new boss when he met with them in September — particularly when he noted that the paper likely couldn’t survive further layoffs. Instead, Bezos plans to provide a “financial cushion” while the paper experiments to try and find a successful strategy. It looks like the arrival of Bezos has investors energized, as well. The Washington Post Company’s stock closed the day at $628.54, up 2.8 percent, marking a five-year high. As for Bezos’ future in the newspaper business, he told The Verge last week that he wasn’t interested in purchasing any additional papers beyond the Post.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos stood before journalists from one of the country’s most storied newspapers and told them their publication can’t live in the past.

Bezos wasn’t speaking to a group of pushovers. In the front row were Ben Bradlee and Bob Woodward, the men who led the Post’s coverage of the Watergate scandal and helped bring down a sitting US president, Richard Nixon. Nonetheless, when Bezos wrapped up his Q&A, he received a spirited ovation. “They really liked him,” said one Post staffer. “They’re eager for him to figure this out.”

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has likely answered thousands of questions from journalists. What he probably has never done is faced a roomful of reporters who will soon depend on him for their paychecks.

The Washington Post Company has reported declining revenue in each of the past seven years. One thing is certain: Bezos is moving quickly to size up the Post. Multiple sources say Martin Baron, the Post’s executive editor, gave three of Bezos’ representatives a tour of the newsroom last week.

Jeffrey Preston Bezos is one of tech’s most far-sighted thinkers, an entrepreneur who has helped pioneer internet retail and a visionary who is trying to ferry civilians into outer space. So, why would he want to buy into a crumbling industry like newspapers?

Bezos’ investment company on Monday announced that it would acquire The Washington Post for $250 million. The Washington, DC-based newspaper has a proud journalism history, and for decades was a highly profitable business. But for newspapers, the internet era has been marked by declining revenue, layoffs and a loss of influence. That’s why so many are wondering why the CEO made the investment and what he has planned.

Some employees said they went into the meeting expecting that the leadership had finally found a new headquarters, or at worst the company was in for another management shakeup. According to multiple sources who were present, many in the audience were hit hard when Donald Graham, the family patriarch, choked up as he delivered the news and thanked employees for their contribution and hard work to the paper his family had owned since 1933.

Some of the people who spoke with The Verge, all of whom asked for anonymity, said there were plenty of “sad faces” following the meeting. “It was like a funeral,” said another. “People are scared.”

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, just bought prestigious daily newspaper The Washington Post for $250 million.

Here’s what he told the staff of that paper, in a memo just published at The Washington Post itself.

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the world’s 19th-richest man, has acquired The Washington Post, long one of the country’s most influential and prestigious daily newspapers, for $250 million in cash, the company announced today. “The purchaser is an entity that belongs to Mr. Bezos in his individual capacity and is not Amazon.com, Inc.,” a press release issued by The Washington Post said. The purchase includes all of the papers The Washington Post owns (and their websites), including the Express daily, The Gazette Newspapers, and the Southern Maryland Newspapers, but does not include Slate, TheRoot.com or Foreign Policy, which will remain with the Washington Post Company.

Last week, Bezos sold about $185 million worth of Amazon shares, though it’s unclear whether the sale is connected to the acquisition.