Will Lewis, the embattled chief executive and publisher of The Washington Post, has stepped down, the company announced on Saturday, days after the newspaper came under widespread criticism for laying off hundreds of its journalists.

Lewis said in a statement that he had made the decision "in order to ensure the sustainable future of The Post". His email, which was terse, thanked only Jeff Bezos, the owner of The Post, and did not mention journalists at the newspaper.

Lewis left three days after the company, facing years of financial losses, undertook a significant round of layoffs that cut 30 per cent of the staff — more than 300 journalists — decimating The Post’s local, international and sports coverage. Marty Baron, the celebrated former editor of The Post, called it one of the "darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organisations".

In a news release announcing Lewis’s departure, Bezos said that The Post has "an essential journalistic mission and an extraordinary opportunity". He added, “Each and every day our readers give us a road map to success.” He did not mention the cost-cutting in his statement.

Jeff D’Onofrio, the chief financial officer of The Post, was named acting chief executive.

New York Times News Service