News of Mr. Bezos’ marriage breakup left employees and shareholders asking how it will affect Amazon, as well as his other holdings, which include the Washington Post and rocket company Blue Origin LLC. People close to Mr. Bezos believe the couple have no prenuptial agreement, which opens the possibility he could lose a chunk of his stake in the company.

The impact has reverberated through Amazon, where some senior leaders feel blindsided by the tweet and his subsequent missive, said people familiar with the matter. Other employees said Mr. Bezos’ revelation of personal details humanized the executive.

Thus far, it does not appear that the tabloid storm has affected Amazon’s operations. A person familiar with Mr. Bezos’ schedule said he still spends the majority of his time in Seattle running the company’s core businesses.


By extension, media figures would not be being told by their police sources, as I have been told is currently happening both routinely and with vigor, that the authorities are acting on the assumption that they will never find any evidence to fully substantiate Smollett’s story. This isn’t just happening via idle speculation either, the police are doing so with great specificity, even including an alternative theory for what really happened (current attempts to find the origin of the rope found around Smollett’s neck long after the event was over are believed to be the most likely game-changer, if there ever is one in this case).