Starting in September 2017, The Washington Post—which is owned by Bezos—published a series of columns by Jamal Khashoggi that were critical of Saudi Arabia or bin Salman.[5] In April 2018, Bezos attended a small dinner with bin Salman and exchanged WhatsApp numbers.[5] Bezos and bin Salman proceeded to exchange friendly messages.[6] Khashoggi was murdered in October 2018; Washington Post reporting became increasingly critical of the role of Saudi regime and bin Salman in the murder.[5]