Washington Post's top editor backs Jeff Bezos as critics lash out over struggling paper's layoffs

Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray offered a staunch defense of the paper's billionaire owner Jeff Bezos, who's been facing backlash as his news organization was rocked by significant layoffs on Wednesday. 

"We’re a business," Murray told Fox News Digital during a phone interview on Wednesday afternoon. 

The Post announced it is shuttering the sports desk in its current form, dialing back its international footprint, shrinking its Metro staff and eliminating its books section. Murray, who personally delivered the staffing shakeup to the paper's employees on a Zoom webinar, defended the Amazon founder as critics say he could afford to save the jobs that were cut. 

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"When [Bezos] bought the Post, he said he wanted it to be profitable," Murray said. "That’s never been a secret, and he has been a pretty generous benefactor over many years when our fortunes were up and when our fortunes were down." 

Post leaders have been working for roughly two years to be in a position to break even financially after reported $100 million losses in 2024. Murray believes the painful cuts will help achieve that goal. 

"I'm pretty confident that despite what these incredibly difficult actions, and I should say they are tough, and they're particularly obviously tough on a human level for a lot of really valued colleagues and that's hard today, but part of the reason we did it was to get ourselves on the sounder footing," Murray said. 

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"We will be better positioned right away to both find some ways forward for the company, for instance, to have more ways to think about growth, and more resources to do that… while concentrating on those things that we know our users come to us for," he continued. "We'll also get better benefits from some improvements we've already made at the company. We've already overhauled and dramatically improved our subscription business, so we've seen some gains from that. And I think we're going to be able to go further and faster."

In the days before the layoffs became official, Post staffers aggressively tweeted directly at Bezos, urging him to save the paper. Many observers pointed out that Bezos, the fourth-richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $250 billion, should be willing to take a financial loss in order to avoid cutting jobs. 

New York Times reporter Peter Baker even suggested that Bezos could "absorb those losses with what he makes in a single week" and keep the paper’s staff for another five years. 

"The first time I heard the words 'Save the Post used, it was from the mouth of Jeff Bezos," Murray said, pointing to his exchange with New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin in December 2024. "I think people have different definitions of what that means but together, we all share the common desire for a thriving Post that’s growing again, that’s on sounder financial footing and in a good position to become more relevant to people’s lives. And that's what we're all trying to get to."

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Murray, who came to the Post from the Wall Street Journal in 2023, said he appreciates Bezos letting "the leaders who run the business run the business." 

"I’m not going to talk about any confidential conversation or things we do in that regard, but I feel well-supported and aligned," he said.  

Murray also feels aligned with Washington Post CEO and publisher Will Lewis, who took heat throughout the day from critics who wondered why he wasn’t involved in the announcement.

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"Look, Will has been engaged with me very closely on this for a long time," Murray said in response to criticism of Lewis. "And there were a lot of things that the company did and Will was engaged with all across the company, and I wasn't. He had a lot of things to tend to today."

"The decision was made, and I think it's a good decision, that the people who are closest to the different parts of the company that were affected should be out front, speaking with them. I think that's my job. I think it's part of what I do," he continued. "I think there are sometimes expectations of public statements to be made by people. But I see all kinds of businesses and companies, including other companies that Jeff owns. I see the people who run the businesses out there speaking, and I'm happy to do that for us. That's my job."