A wealthy tech tycoon named Steve Kirsch, who is also against COVID mandates and masking practices, is being labeled a “creep” for offering a female plane passenger in first class $100,000 on Friday if she would take off her mask on board a Delta flight.

“I am on board a Delta flight right now. The person sitting next to me in first class refused $100,000 to remove her mask for the entire flight. No joke. This was after I explained they don’t work. She works for a pharma company,” he tweeted. “And I started the bidding at $100.”

The woman head-scratchingly refused to take off her mask in exchange for the money. But when it was time to eat breakfast, she took it off with seemingly no concern she would be infected.

“And I pointed out that when she removed the mask for eating and drinking, she could be infected with one breath. So she had full disclosure,” Kirsch noted. “She took off her mask as soon as the breakfast was served!!!! Because everyone knows you can’t get infected while you are eating!!”

I am on board a Delta flight right now. The person sitting next to me in first class refused $100,000 to remove her mask for the entire flight. No joke. This was after I explained they don’t work. She works for a pharma company. pic.twitter.com/Q8Hwzhkmxf

— Steve Kirsch (@stkirsch) March 10, 2023

And I started the bidding at $100.

— Steve Kirsch (@stkirsch) March 10, 2023

And I pointed out that when she removed the mask for eating and drinking, she could be infected with one breath. So she had full disclosure.

— Steve Kirsch (@stkirsch) March 10, 2023

She took off her mask as soon as the breakfast was served!!!! Because everyone knows you can’t get infected while you are eating!!

— Steve Kirsch (@stkirsch) March 10, 2023

Kirsch joked that next time he might sit next to an SVB depositor.

“Maybe next time I’ll sit next to someone who had an account at Silicon Valley Bank,” he remarked.

Maybe next time I’ll sit next to someone who had an account at Silicon Valley Bank.

— Steve Kirsch (@stkirsch) March 10, 2023

The day before, Kirsch offered $10,000 to others on a plane if they would take off their masks for the duration of the flight.

They declined and he wondered on Twitter if increasing the amount would “quantify the amount of brainwashing.”

Kirsch is a Silicon Valley pioneer who invented one of the first versions of the optical mouse back in 1980. He went on to co-found Frame Technology Corp, which was snapped up by Adobe in 1995. The visionary also created the search engine Infoseek, which was sold to Disney in 1999.

He was worth $230 million in 2007, according to the New York Post.

In 2020, as the pandemic took hold, Kirsch created a research fund for potential COVID treatments. He dumped $1 million into the venture, according to MIT Technology Review.

Since that time, Kirsch has become a COVID skeptic and has been accused of spreading “misinformation” about the pandemic online. He has also founded the anti-vaccine group Vaccine Safety Research.

When his Twitter thread on the incident went viral, nastiness from the left and those who buy into the COVID mandates poured in:

What’s happening here, Steve, is that people are weighing the likelihood of you being a sincere rich guy vs. a creepy liar and quite reasonably landing on the latter.

— Rebecca Metz (@TheRebeccaMetz) March 11, 2023

Harassed a woman minding her own business in a confined space where she couldn’t get away from you…. Lovely.

— Tracy (@trraccyy_) March 13, 2023

An entitled mansplainer! I bet the lady wished she had another seat.

— Gavin Daly (@gavinjdaly) March 13, 2023

Some supported Kirsch on Twitter and asserted they would have gladly taken the money:

wish I was sitting next to you, I I’d be richer now about $100,000 and I could have finally bought my daughters dream home. But I wouldn’t need to be persuaded to take off the mask. Throughout the pandemic, I fought not to wear it

— Agnieszka Mierzejewska (@AgnieszkaMierz9) March 13, 2023

Even if it was GUARANTEED I’d get COVID I’d take the $100k, depending on where I was going.

— Michelle Stalimeros (@Sydneygal2011) March 12, 2023

Despite airlines and airports dropping mask mandates last April, many travelers are continuing to wear the face coverings.

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