MUMBAI: The iconic American newspaper has shifted hands. An astounding $250mn in cash was paid by Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, to buy the newspaper from the Graham family. The newspaper clarified that it will not be owned by Amazon in any way but is being paid for by Bezos from his own account.

Bezos is worth $25.2billion. The Washington Post's online and print editions, the daily free paper Express, weekly Spanish newspaper El Tiempo Latino, the Gazette community newspapers in Maryland and some specialty publications are included in the sale. The Slate website however isn't included.

According to a website, the newspaper will also get a fresh name, putting an end to an era of good journalism, including the infamous Watergate Scandal. The newspaper had been reporting losses for the seventh year in a row.

Bezos has promised stability of the paper to the employees and also said that he won't be running the day to day business of the paper. The sale process will be completed in the next 60 days.

Recently, another iconic newspaper, The Boston Globe was sold to the owner of the baseball team Boston Red Sox, John W. Henry for $70mn.