A tech millionaire has been branded 'creepy' after he offered a female passenger on a flight $100,000 (£83,000) if she removed her mask. American entrepreneur Steve Kirsch claimed to be baffled after the woman refused his lump sum offer and kept her face covering on while travelling.
Mr Kirsch, claims he told the first class passenger beside him that masks 'don't work' and that he would give her the huge payment if she agreed to take it off, the Mirror reports. The businessman, who was one of two people that independently invented the optical mouse, has previously been accused of spreading misinformation regarding Covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic.
He took to Twitter to explain his latest controversial stunt but other social media users were less than impressed with his pushy behaviour. He wrote: “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."
Initially offering her $100, he said: "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.
"She took off her mask as soon as the breakfast was served. Because everyone knows you can’t get infected while you are eating."
Comparing the woman to those who invested with the collapsed tech bank SVB, he joked: "Maybe next time I’ll sit next to someone who had an account at Silicon Valley Bank." However, other Twitter users were quick to criticise him for his arrogant antics.
One questioned: “Did you have the $100,000 in cash? If not, you sound like a lunatic. How could they trust you’d pay up?”
Another replied: “They probably didn’t think you had even $5." However, it's not the first time his bizarre inflight approaches have been turned down.
Just three days beforehand he had tweeted that two other people refused similar requests. He wrote: “I asked the people sitting next to me on the plane if I paid them $10,000 would they remove their mask for the duration of the flight?
"Both declined the offer. Maybe I should offer $100,000 next time?" Social media users were again unimpressed by his actions as one remarked: “Women don’t want to make deals with creepy men on planes. It’s not complicated."
Another commented: “Do you make a habit of offering money to random women to remove coverings from their bodies mid-air?” One user remarked that the $100,000 would not come close to covering hospital bills if someone actually got a bad case of Covid.
They wrote: “My hospital bills after admission for Covid came to over $300,000 (including the $80,000 air ambulance because local hospitals were all full), plus loss of clients/income, lung damage, ongoing disability, recovery/support expenses, etc - I’d need a minimum of $5million cash in hand.
“I wore a mask on the plane and still got Covid. I already have long Covid. My physical therapy bills laugh at your measly $10,000".
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