Mega-rich tech ‘creep’ breaks silence on $100K request: ‘No regrets’

The millionaire tech tycoon who made worldwide headlines for offering a female plane passenger $100,000 to remove her face masks has suggested The Post he has “no regrets” about his controversial present.

Silicon Valley veteran Steve Kirsch, 64, was branded a “creep” after he outlined his encounter with the girl in a Twitter thread last Friday.

“I’m on board a Delta flight correct now,” he wrote in his first publish, which has been thought of larger than 32 million events. “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.”

Speaking with The Post on Thursday, Kirsch — as quickly as a excellent donor to Democrats, nevertheless who now gained’t give a dime to members of that celebration — gave context about his dialog with the mask-clad passenger, saying it handed off on a 4½-hour flight from San Francisco to Detroit.

“It was a cordial conversation,” the wealthy businessman insisted, together with that he’s “never obnoxious and aggressive” when talking to individuals who discover themselves masked.

According to Kirsch, the girl, who he said was in her mid-60s, was actually the one who struck up the dialog.

“I asked her why she was wearing a mask,” he outlined. “She said she was going to see her daughter and wanted to protect herself against COVID-19.”

The tech tycoon claimed he then made the “hypothetical” $100,000 present to “question the intensity of her belief” that masks have been an environment friendly sort of security in opposition to the virus.

The lady said she would flip down the sum of money, with Kirsch claiming it “highlights the insanity some people have.”

“She believes it [the mask] works,” the tech tycoon outlined in an exasperated pattern.

“I just wanted to understand how people believe this s – – t,” he added.

Despite vehemently disagreeing with the girl, Kirsch described her as “super nice” and said their encounter always remained nice.

He even confirmed her the tweet he had posted about their encounter.

Kirsch is a Silicon Valley veteran who’s credited with introducing considered one of many first variations of the optical mouse once more in 1980.

He later co-founded Frame Technology Corporation, which was bought by Adobe in 1995, and created the search engine Infoseek, which was purchased to Disney in 1999.

His web worth was reported at $230 million in 2007.

In 2020, Kirsch created a evaluation fund for potential COVID therapies, pouring $1 million into the enterprise, according to MIT Technology Review.

However, the publication reported that he has since change right into a skeptic about licensed COVID vaccines and has unfold “misinformation” regarding the pandemic on-line.

His Twitter feed, on which he describes himself as a “truth-teller” and “critical thinker,” is full with hyperlinks to articles which might be moreover skeptical of COVID mandates and masking practices.

But Kirsch suggested The Post he has “never shared any misinformation” and said US authorities are afraid of releasing data that hyperlinks COVID vaccination to unexplained deaths.

Meanwhile, his “hypothetical” $100,000 present to the female plane passenger isn’t the first pitch he’s made.

Kirsch has a Substack account, the place on March 9 he printed a publish titled “I offered people $10,000 to take off their face masks for 60 minutes. Here’s what happened.”

“Masks don’t work and even if they did, people aren’t covering their eyes so the mitigation is completely useless and nonsensical,” the businessman wrote in his piece. “Despite that, people are so brainwashed with fear thanks to the CDC narrative that they would refuse an offer of $10,000 to take off their mask.”

Last fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services every nonetheless actually helpful masking up in positive circumstances.

In December, Los Angeles County was considering reinstituting an space indoor-mask mandate as a consequence of a coronavirus surge, with some pushback from consultants.

Just closing month a model new look at steered that widespread masking may need executed little to nothing to curb the transmission of COVID-19.

Kirsch’s standing has taken successful amongst well-heeled liberals in Silicon Valley since he started speaking out in opposition to official COVID measures.

However, the millionaire suggested The Post he isn’t bothered.

“I’m saving lives — I have no regrets,” he declared.