Washington Post Company to Acquire Slate Magazine

Posted on January 3, 2005

The Washington Post Company announced that it has reached an agreement with Microsoft Corp. to acquire Slate, an online magazine. Jacob Weisberg will remain editor of Slate. The business operations of Slate will be run by Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI), a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company. Cliff Sloan, vice president, business development and general counsel of WPNI, has been named publisher of Slate. Its offices in New York and Washington, DC will continue to operate.

Donald E. Graham, chairman and chief executive officer of The Washington Post Company, said, "Slate has been a pioneer in internet publishing, and it is a fine magazine. Founder Michael Kinsley, editor Jacob Weisberg, and Microsoft deserve great credit for creating Slate. We couldn't be more enthusiastic about this acquisition."

The Washington Post Company said Slate reaches an educated and influential audience of readers who use the web as a primary source of news, information and commerce. According to Nielsen NetRatings, Slate had six million unique users in November 2004. Slate's audience is similar to the audience of other WPNI publications (washingtonpost.com and Newsweek.com).

Weisberg said, "I couldn't be more excited about this move. Microsoft has been a wonderful home for us since 1996. It's clear, though, that The Washington Post Company is the best place for Slate to continue to grow and develop."

In a separate agreement between Microsoft and WPNI, Slate will continue to be available to users on MSN through links on the MSN portal.