A MILLIONAIRE tech tycoon has been slammed for making a "creepy" offer to a woman on his flight.
Uber-rich Steve Kirsch proudly claimed he told the Delta Airlines passenger he would pay her $100,000 (£82,700) to remove her face mask.
The US entrepreneur is a well-known Covid and vaccine sceptic, who has been accused of spreading "misinformation" online about the pandemic.
He detailed his strange interaction onboard the flight with a female passenger in a Twitter thread on Friday.
Kirsch said he noticed the person sitting next to him in first class was wearing a protective face mask - so he decided to put some money where her mouth was.
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The tech magnate, who is reportedly worth $230million, said he started the bidding at $100 after asking if the woman would remove it.
She politely declined his proposition, but Kirsch continued to show off his sickening wealth by raising the stakes of his weird offer.
The tweet read: "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."
Kirsch, credited with inventing the first versions of the optical mouse, added a selfie of himself smiling onboard the packed flight.
The Silicon Valley veteran later said that he was baffled that the woman had rejected his bid - as she took off her mask to eat.
He added: "She took off her mask as soon as the breakfast was served!!!! Because everyone knows you can’t get infected while you are eating!!
"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."
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The self-described "truth-teller" then joked: "Maybe next time I’ll sit next to someone who had an account at Silicon Valley Bank."
But Kirsch's solo bidding war didn't go down well with social media users, with most expressing concern over his pushy behaviour.
Many accused him of harassing the passenger with his Covid conspiracies while badgering her with questions.
'WILDLY CREEPY'
One wrote: "Ew. Do you make a habit of offering money to random women to remove coverings from their bodies mid-air?"
Another said: "I'm sure she appreciated the harassment. What a jerk."
A third wrote: "This is wildly creepy, you get that, right? Every part of this. From the request, to the expression, to the fact you decided to tweet this."
A fourth commented: "You're the type of person everyone hopes to avoid on a plane."
And a fifth chimed in: "An entitled mansplainer! I bet the lady wished she had another seat."
A forensic pathologist also stuck her two pence in, insisting Kirsch should have apologised for "being really inappropriate."
Dr Judy Melinek said: "There is ample data from hospitals that masks work.
"Removing your mask briefly to eat does not obliterate the protection offered by hours of masking because infection is linked to viral load."
COVID U-TURN
In 2020, Kirsch poured $1million into a research fund he created for potential Covid treatments alongside a "powerhouse board" of scientific advisors.
But he performed a dramatic U-turn and become a vocal critic of vaccines, claiming they "kill twice as many as they save".
A year later, the tech mogul had already founded an anti-vax group and began regularly sharing "misinformation" about the pandemic, according to the MIT Technology Review.
Kirsch constantly shares articles criticising mask-wearers after the mandate on US airlines was scrapped back in April last year.
But passengers are still permitted to make the "personal choice" and decide if they want to wear one.
Kirsch previously got shot down by two Southwest travellers earlier on March 7 after making them a similar offer to remove their masks.
He claimed he said he would pay them $10,000 to take it off for the duration of the flight, but both declined.
The millionaire added: "Maybe I should offer $100,000 next time? This can quantify the amount of brainwashing."
Kirsch made his money thanks to starting several tech companies, including search engine Infoseek and Frame Technology Corp.
He sold the latter to Adobe in 1995 and flogged the search engine to Disney four years later.
More recently, he created M10 - which markets blockchains for banks - but was asked to step down in 2021 due to the controversy surrounding his Covid conspiracies.
