For Amazon, It’s Not Too Early to be Talking About Its Next CEO – Barron’s

Dean Crutchfield, CEO of branding firm Crutchfield + Partners
The controversy isn’t likely to affect Bezos’ ability to lead the company, Crutchfield says, but it is increasingly becoming a burden.

Amazon posted another record quarterly profit last month, but its stock has declined 4% since Bezos announced on Jan. 9 that he and his wife, MacKenzie, would divorce after 25 years of marriage. (Amazon did offer a weaker-than-expected outlook in the earnings report.)

“He has put them in a difficult spot,” Crutchfield says of Bezos’ decision to send intimate details via text. “He came out of the gate with the right strategy, fighting this. But the longer this continues, the more it becomes an uncontrollable event. There is nothing worse for a CEO to face.”