When the CEO Is the Company

Although Amazon quickly replaced Jenson, the company has largely redistributed Risher and Britto's duties to other executives.

Meanwhile, the company has never replaced Joseph Galli, who served as its first president and chief operating officer, and essentially the company's second-in-command. Instead, Amazon named Bezos its president after Galli left.

"There's no question about who's leading the company," said Jeff Fieler, who covers the company for Bear Stearns. He added, jokingly, "It would probably be a bigger negative for Amazon [if something happened to Bezos], than for Bear if something happened to me."

A company spokesman declined to talk about Bezos' accident or the company's contingency plans if something were to happen to him.

Despite Bezos' importance to Amazon, some analysts warn not to get too worried about what might happen to him. Noting Bezos' age, Fieler said that the chances something might incapacitate him anytime soon are pretty "remote."

Meanwhile, Amazon is no longer just a start-up operation, Fieler said.

"Amazon is big enough and has enough systems in place that it's more than one man," he said. Bear Stearns has not recently done banking for Amazon.

And Amazon's management team may be deeper than it appears at first glance, argued Shawn Milne, an analyst with SoundView Technology Group. Tom Szkutak, who joined Amazon as its new CFO in October, formerly served as CFO of GE's lighting division, Milne noted.

Diego Piacentini, the company's senior vice president of worldwide retail and marketing, formerly headed Apple Computer's overseas operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

"They have a very strong management team, with good breadth," Milne said. (SoundView does not have any investment banking business with Amazon.)

But even Milne acknowledges that losing Bezos could be a blow to Amazon.

"If there is an issue with Jeff, it's the sentiment of him driving the ship, that it's his vision," Milne said. "If he was gone, it would call into question the vision."