Washington Post Losses Topped $100 Million in 2025
The Washington Post lost more than $100 million last year, according to people familiar with the matter, financial troubles that contributed to the company’s decision to cut its staff by 30% earlier this month.
The Post lost roughly $100 million in 2024 and $77 million in 2023.
The paper, known in part for its coverage of the Watergate scandal and the Pentagon Papers, has struggled to find a sustainable business model in the face of waning web traffic and changes to the way consumers access news and information online.
In their first major presentation since the layoffs, acting Chief Executive and Publisher Jeff D’Onofrio and Executive Editor Matt Murray held a staff meeting Wednesday in which they described years of overspending and declining productivity.
D’Onofrio told newsroom staff that expenses surpassed revenue between 2022 and 2025 because the company had hired hundreds of staffers in the years prior, according to people in attendance. He didn’t detail the depth of the losses at the meeting.
The number of news stories published by the Post has fallen by 42% since 2020, while newsroom costs were 16% higher in 2025 compared with 2020, D’Onofrio said.
Matt Murray at an earlier meeting with Washington Post staff. Robert Miller/Washington Post/Getty Images
Murray acknowledged the “painfulness of the moment” in light of the recent cuts. The former Wall Street Journal editor in chief, who took the top spot at the Post in June 2024, tried to reset expectations for newsroom staff.
“We don’t want or need to do every story or jump on everything that happens,” Murray said. “We’re not a paper of record; there’s no such thing anymore in today’s world.”
Still, he said, “We want to be distinctive, urgent, must-read with every chance we have.”
D’Onofrio, who was named to his post earlier this month after the departure of publisher and CEO Will Lewis, said he is looking toward a larger strategic plan. “Bear with me, because that will take some time and obvious care, but I’m keen to get going on it,” he 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.”