Bezos' purchase of The Post makes him the latest billionaire to funnel some of his money into the ailing newspaper industry. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. CEO Warren Buffett has assembled a portfolio of more than 30 small and medium-sized newspapers while Boston Red Sox owner John Henry recently agreed to pay $70 million for his hometown newspaper, The Boston Globe.
Buffett, renowned for investing in out-of-favor companies, also happens to be one of the largest shareholders in The Washington Post Co., which is selling its namesake newspaper to Bezos. Buffett's penchant for going against the grain and focusing on long-term investments are qualities Bezos has embraced with phenomenal success.
Amazon's nearly two-decade history under Bezos' leadership suggests The Post is likely to try things that other newspapers steeped in tradition have never dared to attempt.
"Ever since he was a little kid, it got deeply ingrained into Jeff that experimentation is the answer to everything," said Hal Gregerson, who interviewed Bezos for his 2011 book, "The Innovator's DNA." "Exploring the edges is one of Jeff's counter-intuitive skills. If you go back to when he started Amazon, he was paying attention to something out of the corner of his eye and turned it into something that others didn't see."
It's impossible to predict the bright ideas Bezos might explore, partly because reviving the Post would probably take years to pull off. Experts are floating a host of possibilities. Bezos could, for instance, deploy the technology that Amazon uses to recommend books, movies and music to consumers to enable the Post to automatically tailor digital news packages to each reader's interests. He might impose more fees to read the Post's content online. At the same time, he might bundle free subscriptions as part of Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet or for consumers who buy Amazon's "Prime" service for free shipping. He could even include special offers in the printed edition for discounted or free Amazon.com deliveries.
The Post and other newspapers might not be around that much longer, unless radical changes are made. Some of the biggest newspapers already have had to seek refuge in bankruptcy court to reshuffle their finances during the past five years and the outlook still looks grim. Based on his recent conversations with publishers, analyst Doctor believes revenue is likely to continue to slip for the next five years, too.