The purchase takes the newspaper out of the hands of the Graham family, one of the most storied media dynasties in U.S. history, and puts it under the control of one of the 21st century’s most media-shy tech moguls.

Though Amazon has been making content deals left and right, both as a book publisher and as a streaming video service through Amazon Prime, this is something different. Amazon was not officially involved in the purchase, suggesting that Bezos has something else in mind. It would appear that Bezos is simply interested in owning a newspaper — and perhaps in boosting the health of the traditionally liberal Post.

In a letter to Post employees, Bezos says that he won’t be leading the paper directly day-to-day. “I am happily living in ‘the other Washington’ where I have a day job that I love,” he writes, referring to his role as CEO at Seattle-based Amazon.

The purchase did not include the Post Co.’s Kaplan test-prep division, the company’s greatest source of revenue. Nor did it include Slate, TheRoot.com, or Foreign Policy.