Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan leaves paper after 9 years at helm

Washington Post publisher and chief executive Fred Ryan, who presided over explosive growth during the Trump years but couldn't avert the effects of the industry's downturn over the past two years, said Monday he's leaving the publication after nearly a decade.

Ryan, 68, will lead the newly formed Center on Public Civility at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, the newspaper said. He'll be replaced at the Post on an interim basis by Patty Stonesifer, formerly chief executive of the Gates Foundation and a member of the Amazon board, newspaper owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said.

Ryan, the former CEO and a founder of Politico, oversaw the appointment of Sally Buzbee — the former Associated Press executive editor — as the Post’s top editor, replacing Marty Baron, in 2021.

A year after Bezos bought the newspaper in 2013, Ryan was appointed to lead The Washington Post, taking over from Katharine Weymouth — granddaughter of legendary longtime CEO Katharine Graham — and ending the Graham family’s eight-decade tenure as leaders of the largest newspaper in the nation’s capital.