Who is Jeff D’Onofrio, Washington Post’s acting CEO and publisher?

WASHINGTON: The Washington Post has appointed Jeff D’Onofrio as its acting CEO and publisher following the departure of Will Lewis, whose tenure ended this week after a sweeping round of newsroom layoffs.

D’Onofrio, the Post’s CFO since June 2025, assumes the top role at a moment of acute turbulence. The leadership change comes days after the newspaper cut roughly a third of its staff, including foreign correspondents and US-based reporters, prompting sharp criticism from politicians and media unions.

US senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were among those who condemned the cuts, which have intensified scrutiny of the paper’s direction under owner Jeff Bezos.

In a note to staff, D’Onofrio acknowledged the scale of disruption, writing that the organisation was ending “a hard week of change with more change”. He cited broader economic pressures across the media industry while urging employees to focus on navigating the downturn together.

A finance executive by training, D’Onofrio has spent much of his career in technology, advertising and digital media rather than traditional journalism. Before joining the Post, he served as CFO at Raptive, a digital advertising management firm, overseeing finance, human resources and data functions.

His most prominent role was at Tumblr, where he held multiple senior positions including CEO between 2017 and 2022. During that period, the platform banned adult content, a decision followed by a reported 30 per cent fall in traffic. Tumblr, acquired by Yahoo for $1.1 billion in 2013, was later sold to Automattic in 2019 for less than $3 million.

Earlier in his career, D’Onofrio held senior roles at Google, Yahoo, Zagat and Major League Baseball Advanced Media, and briefly served as general manager of Yahoo News under Verizon ownership.

The Washington Post Guild said hundreds of members were laid off “without rhyme or reason”, adding to pressure on management as the newsroom grapples with repeated rounds of cuts.

Bezos acquired the Washington Post in 2013 and initially expanded its newsroom and digital ambitions. But declining advertising revenue and softer subscription growth have since forced retrenchment. In 2023, the paper eliminated about 240 roles, largely through buyouts. Appointed CEO and publisher Will Lewis that year, exits after a contentious tenure now overshadowed by the latest cuts.

D’Onofrio takes over with detailed knowledge of the Post’s finances, having spent the past nine months at the centre of its restructuring efforts.