The Graham family's decision to sell The Washington Post to Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos underscores the re-emergence of wealthy individuals at the helm of major metro dailies as newspapers seek a refuge from the battering they have experienced on Wall Street.

The news of the impending purchase came just days after the New York Times Co. announced that it is selling the Boston Globe to John Henry, the principal owner of the Boston Red Sox. And several billionaires, including the Koch brothers and Eli Broad, have been eyeing the Los Angeles Times, one of the eight newspapers that the Tribune Co. has been preparing for a possible sale.

The mashup between the Post, a 135-year-old legacy newspaper, and an Internet pioneer was cast Monday as a bet on the future. But it also represented a throwback to the era when rich industrialists controlled major metro dailies.