Last week - at the same time that Bezos' personal life was already embroiled in controversy - the company posted record profits for the third quarter in a row. Overall, the company's stock has fallen five per cent since the Amazon founder announced his divorce from his wife MacKenzie on January 9.
While the choice to take a below-the-waist selfie in the first place was "unhinged," the decision "to retaliate with guns ablaze" was more strategic and calculated, said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Senior Associate Dean for Leadership Studies at the Yale School of Management.
"They were trying to blackmail him in secret and this obliterates the issue. He is doing what some presidents call shock and awe, and he is doing it right."
"I bet he feels quite gratified," he added.
Amazon did not respond to immediate request for comment.
Bezos' behavior differs from that of other prominent tech executives that have caused trouble for their companies, Sonnenfeld said. Tesla's Elon Musk took drugs during a media interview and made a sudden announcement about taking his company private on Twitter, which led to an action by federal authorities. Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick fostered an anything-goes environment where sexual harassment proliferated, while other rule-breaking put Uber in the crosshairs of local authorities. He lashed out at an Uber driver on video.
Still, other experts pointed out that if the fight between Bezos and the National Enquirer drags on, either legally or publicly, it will become a distraction for the Amazon founder.
"For a sitting CEO of a public company, it wasn't the wisest move," said Charles Elson, director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.
"By taking that step, you only call more attention to the allegations. It was a mistake, and Pecker will come back at him, and it will come to come to occupy a significant amount of his time."
Reaction among some Amazon employees has also been telling. Bezos' blog was quickly republished across the company's many internal corporate chat rooms shortly after it came out, according to two employees who wished to remain anonymous to discuss internal corporate matters. Discussion turned immediately to the potential impact on the stock price.
People in Bezos' orbit appeared unfazed or rallied around him. A former Amazon executive, Charlie Kindel, who led the company's Alexa product line until last year, tweeted an almost jovial attitude about the letter.
He recirculated a limerick about it along with another tweet by a person who said they couldn't wait to pre-order the book about the feud between his former boss and National Enquirer editor David Pecker.
Roger McNamee, a Silicon Valley investor who has worked with Bezos and is a vocal critic of Facebook and Google, said he hoped Bezos' efforts would help force tabloids and the political establishment to stop using dirty tricks.
By contrast, Bezos is deliberately defending his private life. He is not misusing company funds or taking actions that specifically impact Amazon's business. Unlike Google and Facebook, where the personal behaviour of executives has garnered huge protests from the rank-and-file, Amazon's culture is more pragmatic and less oriented around values that executives are perceived as needing to uphold, the employee said.
"I think Jeff made the point best in the letter, he'll let Amazon's results speak for themselves," said Ted Maidenberg, a Silicon Valley investor. "It has zero impact [on the business]."
