Graham Holdings
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Founded | 1889 |
| Headquarters | Arlington County, Virginia , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Donald E. Graham (Chairman), Tim O'Shaughnessy (CEO), Catherine Badalamente (Graham Media Group CEO) |
| Products | Digital marketing, online and print media, television stations, education services, manufacturing, healthcare, automotive retail, content and marketplace services |
Number of employees | Over 10,000 (Kaplan alone) |
| Website | www |
Graham Holdings Company—previously known as The Washington Post Company—is a multifaceted American conglomerate holding firm headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia and incorporated in Delaware. It was once the proprietor of The Washington Post newspaper and Newsweek magazine.
Its current portfolio includes digital marketing through Code3 (formerly SocialCode); both online and print media such as Slate Magazine and the FP Group, which publishes Foreign Policy magazine and operates ForeignPolicy.com; Graham Media Group, consisting of seven television stations; education services via Kaplan, Inc.; manufacturing enterprises including Hoover Treated Wood Products, Dekko, Joyce/Dayton Corp, and Forney Corporation; healthcare offerings through Graham Healthcare Group, providing home health, hospice, and palliative care in partnership ventures; automotive retail with eight dealerships located near Washington, D.C. under Graham Automotive; and content and marketplace services managed by World of Good Brands (previously Leaf Group).
Previously, Graham Holdings owned Cable One, a cable television and internet service provider, until it was spun off in 2015. The company’s wide-ranging subsidiaries illustrate a strategic approach aimed at increasing market presence across media, education, manufacturing, healthcare, and automotive industries to enhance growth and financial outcomes.
Corporate history
The roots of Graham Holdings Company date back to 1877 with the inaugural issue of The Washington Post. Initially incorporated in 1889 within the District of Columbia, the company shifted its incorporation to Delaware in 2003. It has been publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GHC since its initial public offering in 1971.
Control of the company remains with descendants of founder Eugene Meyer, including Chairman Donald E. Graham and family trusts. They hold unlisted Class A shares that appoint 70% of the board members and constitute over 90% of the family's wealth. Berkshire Hathaway formerly maintained a substantial stake in Class B shares but exchanged most holdings for assets such as WPLG-TV in 2014.
Since 2014, Graham Holdings has been based at 1300 North 17th Street in Arlington, Virginia, having relocated from its longtime Washington, D.C. headquarters to be nearer to Congress—a move aligned with its regulated education and healthcare businesses.
The acquisition of Stanley H. Kaplan Education Centers in 1984 marked an expansion into Kaplan, Inc., now a leading provider of educational services.
On August 5, 2013, Graham Holdings divested The Washington Post newspaper to Jeff Bezos for $250 million and subsequently rebranded from The Washington Post Company to Graham Holdings Company by November that year. The transaction was finalized by Bezos’s Nash Holdings LLC on October 1, 2013. However, Graham Holdings retained WaPo Labs (later rebranded as Trove), its technology innovation division.
Tim O'Shaughnessy—founder of LivingSocial and son-in-law to CEO Don Graham—joined as president in 2014 before ascending to CEO in November 2015.
In November 2014, Graham Holdings declared plans to spin off Cable ONE as an independent publicly traded firm, a process completed on July 1, 2015.
March 2018 saw the sale of Kaplan University’s online higher education segment to Purdue University, which rebranded it as Purdue University Global with a focus on adult learners.
In 2019, Pinna—a children’s podcast enterprise—was separated from the Slate Group to become an independent subsidiary within Graham Holdings.
Most recently, in June 2021, Graham Holdings expanded its digital media assets by acquiring Leaf Group for roughly $323 million.
Broadcasting
Through its subsidiary Graham Media Group (previously known as Post-Newsweek Stations), Graham Holdings controls seven television stations. The group is led by CEO Catherine Badalamente and is based in Detroit, sharing its location with NBC affiliate WDIV-TV.
| Market | Station | Channel (Virtual / RF) | Owned since | Primary affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville | WJXT | 4 (42) | 1953 | Independent |
| Jacksonville | WCWJ | 17 (34) | 2017 | The CW |
| Orlando - Daytona Beach - Melbourne | WKMG-TV | 6 (26) | 1997 | CBS |
| Detroit | WDIV | 4 (45) | 1978 | NBC |
| Houston | KPRC-TV | 2 (35) | 1994 | NBC |
| San Antonio | KSAT-TV | 12 (12) | 1994 | ABC |
| Roanoke | WSLS-TV | 10 (30) | 2017 | NBC |
In addition to its broadcasting interests, Graham Holdings manages a variety of digital media enterprises. Its holdings encompass The Slate Group, which publishes Slate, Slate V, and ForeignPolicy.com, alongside World of Good Brands (previously Leaf Group). The company divested the magazine The Root in 2015. It also possesses SocialCode, a social media advertising firm, and holds investments in Pinna, a podcast platform for children.
In November 2014, Graham Media Group expanded its digital footprint by acquiring Social News Desk, a platform designed for newsroom social media management.
Graham Holdings further expanded in June 2021 by acquiring Leaf Group, a consumer internet business specializing in lifestyle publishing and marketplace brands. By 2023, Leaf Group was reorganized into World of Good Brands, distinguishing publishing properties such as Well+Good, Livestrong, Hunker, and OnlyInYourState from marketplace platforms including Saatchi Art and Society6.
Following this restructuring, between 2024 and 2025, Graham divested several lifestyle brands—selling Hunker to Static Media, transferring ownership of Well+Good and Livestrong to Ziff Davis, and OnlyInYourState to Launch Potato. These transactions resulted in the dissolution of World of Good Brands and associated workforce reductions.
Health care
In October 2012, Graham Holdings acquired Celtic Healthcare Inc., a Pennsylvania-based provider delivering home health care and hospice services throughout Pennsylvania and parts of Maryland. Celtic also manages a 10-bed inpatient hospice facility located in Dunmore, Pennsylvania. By the year 2014, the company employed roughly 558 full-time employees and an additional 45 part-time staff members.
Two years later, in 2014, Graham acquired a controlling interest in Residential Healthcare Group, which is headquartered in Troy, Michigan. This subsidiary provides both home-based and on-site health care and hospice services across Michigan and Illinois.
Graham Healthcare Group offers home health, hospice, and palliative care services through partnerships with health systems and physician organizations. It develops innovative business strategies and technology solutions aimed at improving hospice and home health operations to elevate care standards. Its portfolio includes Residential Healthcare Group, Allegheny Health Network-Healthcare @ Home, Mary Free Bed at Home, Clarus, and InTeliCare.
Moreover, Graham Healthcare operates a specialty pharmacy licensed across 38 states via Clinical Specialty Infusions, LLC (CSI Pharmacy), headquartered in Texarkana, Texas. Through Clarus Care, LLC based in Nashville, Tennessee, it provides call management services tailored for physician groups and hospitals.
Manufacturing
In July 2013, Graham Holdings expanded its manufacturing division by acquiring Forney Corp., a company located in Addison, Texas, that produces combustion monitoring equipment for power plants serving electric utilities.
The following year, in June 2014, the company added Joyce/Dayton Corp. to its portfolio. Based in Dayton, Ohio, Joyce/Dayton specializes in manufacturing screw jacks and linear-motion systems.
Further growth occurred in November 2015 with the purchase of Group Dekko, an electrical equipment manufacturer headquartered in Garrett, Indiana.
In 2017, Graham Holdings broadened its product range by acquiring Hoover Treated Wood Products, a provider of fire retardant and preservative-treated lumber and plywood.
Most recently, in May 2020, the company announced it had acquired Framebridge, a business offering custom framing solutions, thereby diversifying its manufacturing interests.
Restaurants
Graham Holdings entered the restaurant industry in July 2019 through the acquisition of Clyde's Restaurant Group, which operates multiple dining establishments across the Washington metropolitan area, including the well-known Old Ebbitt Grill.
Automotive
In January 2019, Graham Holdings secured a 90% ownership stake in two car dealerships formerly owned by Sonic Automotive. This acquisition marked the company's fourth entry into automobile dealership operations. One of these locations is situated at 8820 Centreville Road in Manassas and is overseen by Christopher J. Ourisman of Ourisman Automotive. The dealerships were acquired from Battlefield Automotive Group under undisclosed financial terms.
Education
Since purchasing Stanley H. Kaplan Educational Centers in 1984, Graham Holdings has significantly grown Kaplan’s global footprint. The company has diversified Kaplan’s services beyond traditional test preparation to include professional training programs, language education, higher education offerings, pathway initiatives, and online learning platforms. Notably, Kaplan launched Concord Law School—the first fully online law school—in 1998. Through strategic acquisitions and organic growth, Kaplan now operates extensively in markets such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.
Kaplan employs a workforce exceeding 10,000 individuals across 27 countries and collaborates with over 12,000 corporate partners as well as more than 4,000 educational institutions worldwide. Its comprehensive suite of services spans test preparation, career advancement programs, language instruction, university support services, and professional education courses.
See also
External links
- Articles with short description
- American companies established in 1889
- Holding companies established in 1889
- Mass media companies established in 1889
- Magazine publishing companies of the United States
- Berkshire Hathaway
- Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
- The Washington Post
- Mass media companies based in Washington, D.C.
- 1889 establishments in Washington, D.C.
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