Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham has agreed to step down as part of the ownership transition.

According to the post on Newsweek.com, Meacham announced his departure in an e-mail to staff this afternoon: “It has been a privilege beyond measure to have worked for NEWSWEEK and for The Washington Post Company for the past 15 years. I will always be grateful for the opportunity the magazine gave me to serve alongside all of you. For half a century the Graham family created and sustained a culture in which we were able to do good, important work, and I know NEWSWEEK will continue to do so.”

“In seeking a buyer for Newsweek, we wanted someone who feels as strongly as we do about the importance of quality journalism. We found that person in Sidney Harman,” said Donald E. Graham, chairman and chief executive officer of The Washington Post Company, in a press release issued by the company.

Harman made his fortune in audio equipment and is the husband of Representative Jane Harman (D-CA).

Attorney General Eric Holder

Every year, she is the eye of the media storm because of her remarkable guest list, specializing in the irresistible from Richard Gere to George Clooney.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner

Last year’s Lally-palooza was all politics, as top advisers of each campaign gently schmoozed each other from Obama’s Valerie Jarrett, Greg Craig and Joel Benenson, to McCain’s main men Rick Davis, Mark Salter and Karl Rove, to HR Clinton’s Mark Penn and Melanne Verveer.

Who will be seen sipping cocktails at the Newsweek reception this year? Lally, along with co-hosts Donald Graham and newly Pulitzered Jon Meacham, scored Obama heavyweights again: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Attorney General Eric Holder.

Here’s the Newsweek list, hot off the press:

R. Todd Bradley, Executive Vice President, Personal Systems Group, Hewlett Packard
David Brennan, CEO, AstraZeneca
Representative Eric and Diana Cantor (R-VA)
Fmr. Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig
Amb. Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner
Amb. Richard Holbrooke, Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Ms. Kati Marton
Attorney General Eric Holder
Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
Arianna Huffington, Editor-in-Chief, The Huffington Post
Jeffrey Kindler, Chairman and CEO, Pfizer, Inc., and Ms. Sharon Sullivan
Michael Kives, Creative Artists Agency
Martin Nesbitt, President and CEO, PRG Parking Management
Natalie Portman
Sir Nigel and Lady Julia Sheinwald, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the US
Puneet Talwar, National Security Council, Iraq and Afghanistan Affairs
Dr. Eric Whitaker, University of Chicago Medical Center
Owen Wilson
James Berkus, United Talent Agency