Graham to be chair emeritus of Graham Holdings

Donald E. Graham, majority owner of Arlington County-based Graham Holdings Co. and former publisher of The Washington Post, announced Thursday he would step down as chairman of Graham Holdings, although he plans to remain on the board as chair emeritus starting in May. Longtime board member Anne Mulcahy, former chair and CEO of Xerox Corp., will become the board’s new chair.

Graham Holdings is a conglomerate holding company that owns educational services company Kaplan, the online magazine Slate, seven television stations and other properties. It previously was known as The Washington Post Co., when the Graham family owned Newsweek and the Post, which was sold to Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos in 2013 for $250 million. Before becoming publisher, Graham was a Post reporter and held several other news and business positions at the newspaper and at Newsweek, which was sold in 2010. Graham’s mother, Katharine Graham, was publisher of the Post from 1963 to 1991, leading the paper during its Watergate coverage; she became publisher following the death of her husband, Phil Graham, who had been publisher since 1946.

Mulcahy, who has served on Graham Holdings’ board for 15 years, was chair and CEO of Xerox from 2001 to 2010, after having joined the company in 1976 as a field sales representative and climbing the ranks.

“Anne has been on the board of Graham Holdings since 2008,” said Graham President and CEO Timothy J. O’Shaughnessy, Graham’s son-in-law. “She knows the businesses and the culture hands down, and we are fortunate to have her acumen and expertise. With Anne as chair and Don as chairman emeritus, the company and its shareholders are in an enviable position.”

Mulcahy is also lead director of Johnson & Johnson and serves on the board for LPL Financial, as well as sitting on the board for Save the Children. She is an executive in residence at Harvard University. “It has been a privilege to serve on the GHC board, which has so capably been led by Don as chair and Tim as CEO,” she said Thursday. “I am honored to serve as the next chair in support of a great management team and an esteemed board of directors.”