Elon Musk Beefs With Bill Gates And Jeff Bezos After Buying Twitter

Following Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter yesterday, fellow mega-billionaire Jeff Bezos seemed to throw shade at him on the platform, implying that Musk is controlled by China. Bezos’ tweet, which does not explicitly accuse Musk of involvement with the Chinese government but raises the question, caused a flurry of activity and responses online.

Interesting question. Did the Chinese government just gain a bit of leverage over the town square? https://t.co/jTiEnabP6T

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) April 25, 2022

Some pointed out that Bezos himself (and his company Amazon) have significant ties with China and have altered their behavior in order to conduct business in the authoritarian country.

What percent of goods sold on amazon</a> originate in China <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffBezos?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">JeffBezos? https://t.co/fryBDBngZT

— jason@calacanis.com (@Jason) April 26, 2022

Bezos is far from the only person to comment on Musk’s purchase of Twitter, as many have expressed annoyance or concern by the mega-billionaire’s takeover of the company, although many others seemed pleased as well.

elon musk spending $43 billion to stop getting bullied on twitter when he could’ve simply been less annoying is insane

— first-mate prance (@bocxtop) April 25, 2022

Elon Musk has finally set the blue bird free: pic.twitter.com/LXjzYCS2ZU

— Mikey (@MikeDulaimi) April 25, 2022

Bezos also isn’t the only mega-billionaire Musk is currently beefing with. Earlier this week, Elon Musk posted a contentious meme about the weight of Bill Gates, declaring that looking at Bill Gates’ body could help “get rid of a boner.”

in case u need to lose a boner fast pic.twitter.com/fcHiaXKCJi

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 23, 2022

Screenshots of a text conversation between Musk and Gates were leaked online, which showed Musk asking Gates about a short position (that is, betting on the stock market that a company will do poorly) that he took against Tesla. Gates confirmed he had bet against Tesla, and inquired if Musk would like to talk about philanthropy possibilities — to which Musk purportedly declined.

So apparently Bill Gates hit up @elonmusk to discuss “philanthropy on climate change” but Elon asked if he still had a half billion dollar short position on $TSLA.

Bill said he hasn’t closed it out, so Elon told him to get lost. No idea if this is true lol pic.twitter.com/iuHkDG3bAd

— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) April 22, 2022

(from making fun of Gates for shorting Tesla while claiming to support climate change action)

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 24, 2022

Billionaires have famously feuded over space travel in the past, with Bezos and Musk both embarking on high-profile space voyages. But the spillover of these feuds into the space of social media – where billionaires seem to be competing both over the acquisition or running of the platforms and the posting of content on them – seems to be a new development.

To recap the last few days:

-- Jeff Bezos suggested Elon Musk is a pawn of Communist China

-- Bill Gates texted Elon Musk for philanthropic money and Elon ghosted him

-- Elon Musk said Bill Gates can get rid of your boner

— Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschleifer) April 25, 2022

Amid the post-Twitter purchase discussion, a number of users have also taken to labeling Musk an “oligarch,” a term usually used to describe ultra-rich Russians who allied themselves with the Putin regime and took control of formerly public industries and businesses following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Yes, Elon Musk is an American oligarch.

— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) April 25, 2022

Introducing: the American Oligarchs! https://t.co/56CzTfH91A

— Jeff Sites for Congress (@Sites4Congress) April 26, 2022

When oligarchs talk about freedom, beware.

For Jeff Bezos, it means his freedom to set prices.

For Jamie Dimon, it means his freedom to consolidate the banking industry.

For Elon Musk, it means his freedom to set the terms of political debate.

Don't get it confused.

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) April 25, 2022

I'm waiting to hear leftists use the term "oligarch" when talking about Elon Musk after buying off Twitter

— Sam Mutahi | Content Marketing | SEO Content (@Sam_Mutahi) April 26, 2022

Regardless of what opinion you may hold on billionaires, this is likely not the last time we’ll see them post memes or take jabs each other on Twitter.