Washington Post Names Ex-Tumblr Head Jeff D’Onofrio Acting CEO
▼ Summary
– Will Lewis is stepping down as CEO of The Washington Post after a contentious tenure marked by recent mass layoffs.
– Jeff D’Onofrio, the former CEO of Tumblr and current CFO of the Post, will become the acting CEO and publisher.
– D’Onofrio has been the Post’s CFO since last June, observing Jeff Bezos’s significant changes to the newspaper.
– His background lacks extensive traditional news media experience and notable professional successes.
– During his Tumblr leadership, the platform banned adult content, traffic fell 30%, and its value plummeted from a $1.1 billion purchase to a sale for under $3 million.
The Washington Post has announced a significant leadership change, appointing Jeff D’Onofrio as its acting Chief Executive Officer and publisher. This move follows the departure of former CEO Will Lewis, whose time at the helm was marked by considerable internal strife and culminated in a major round of staff reductions. D’Onofrio, who has served as the newspaper’s Chief Financial Officer since June of the previous year, now assumes control during a period of profound transition for the historic publication, which has been undergoing substantial restructuring under the ownership of Jeff Bezos.
D’Onofrio’s professional background is not rooted in traditional journalism. His most prominent prior role was as the CEO of the social blogging platform Tumblr, a position he held from 2017 through 2022. Before that, he spent a short period as the general manager of Yahoo News. His tenure at Tumblr is particularly notable for a decisive and controversial policy shift: the platform’s widespread ban on adult content. This attempt to rehabilitate the site’s reputation was met with significant user backlash and coincided with a steep decline in web traffic, estimated at around thirty percent.
The financial trajectory of Tumblr during this era underscores the challenges faced. Yahoo originally acquired the platform in 2013 for a staggering $1.1 billion. However, by 2019, its value had plummeted, and it was sold to Automattic, the parent company of WordPress, for a sum reported to be under three million dollars. This dramatic devaluation forms a critical part of the narrative surrounding D’Onofrio’s executive experience.
Now at The Washington Post, D’Onofrio steps into the top role having observed the organization’s recent operational changes from his CFO position. His immediate task will be to stabilize the newsroom and guide the company forward after a period of turbulence and downsizing. Observers will be watching closely to see how his background in digital platforms and finance translates to leading one of the nation’s most prestigious and scrutinized news institutions. The appointment signals a continued focus on business transformation, placing a executive known for a major, if contentious, digital strategy at the forefront of the Post’s next chapter.
(Source: The Verge)
