Washington Post Co. shares surge on sale
NEW YORK Shares of the longtime owner of The Washington Post Company (WPO) are hitting five-year highs after announcing the sale of the paper to Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos for $250 million.
The paper, which unveiled the Watergate scandal that toppled a President Richard Nixon, has been owned by one family, the Grahams, since it was acquired in a 1933 bankruptcy sale.
The Washington Post Co. will change its name and maintain ownership of Kaplan schools and test-preparation services, its largest source of revenue. It also owns the Cable One cable television business, six television stations, Foreign Policy magazine, and the website Slate, among others.
Class B shares gained $25.63, or 4.5 percent, to $594.33 Tuesday. Shares at one point hit $605.18, a level not since September 2008.