Skip to main content

Jeff Bezos: 'I didn't seek to buy the Washington Post'

Jeff Bezos: 'I didn't seek to buy the Washington Post'

Share this story

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.