The world’s second richest man posted a tweet raising concerns over potential Beijing influence on Twitter several hours after the Tesla CEO, and current holder of the No 1 wealth spot, reached a $44bn deal with the Twitter board to buy the influential social media platform.

Bezos quoted a post from a New York Times reporter that listed the importance of China to Tesla’s business, including the fact that it was the electric carmaker’s second largest market. The tweet said China may now have leverage over Twitter.

Bezos responded with: “Interesting question. Did the Chinese government just gain a bit of leverage over the town square?” Musk called Twitter the “digital town square” after striking a deal on Monday and has made his belief in open debate a central purpose for the acquisition.