Steven Kirsch (born December 24, 1956) is an American engineer and entrepreneur.

When he was 12 years old, Kirsch snuck in to the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), where he interacted with Vint Cerf as he was inventing the internet with funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).¹⁾

He was soon asked by the team to write a program to send and receive e-mails on the Sigma 7, which would soon become the first computer to send an electronic message over the ARPANET in October 1969.²⁾ Charles Klein, one of the other researchers on the project, would later describe Kirsch by the nickname “Stevie” while recounting his contributions.

During his junior high and high school years, Kirsch also worked on operating systems for the group and wrote a status monitoring program, so users could tell who else was on the system.

At the suggestion of Vint Cerf, Kirsch applied to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where received a Bachelor of Science, and then a Master of Science in electrical engineering and computer science in 1980.³⁾ He worked at Bell Laboratories during the summers.

Kirsch is credited as an inventor of the optical mouse.⁴⁾ He marketed the invention through his startup Rodent Associates which he founded in 1982.⁵⁾ The company was later renamed to Mouse Systems.⁶⁾

Around 2001, Kirsch met with Genentech founder Robert Swanson.⁷⁾

In 2007, Kirsch's personal fortune was estimated at $230 million, the majority earned from the IPO of Infoseek and the acquisition of Frame Technology.⁸⁾

Kirsch founded OneID, a digital ID company, in 2011.^{9) 10)}

Kirsch founded CoinTrust, later renamed Token, shortly before or during 2014.¹¹⁾

Leading up to the COVID-19 era, Kirsch was working on developing central bank digital currency (CBDC) infrastructure services through M10 Networks, where he served as co-founder and CEO.^{12) 13) 14)}

Early in the COVID-19 crisis, Kirsch founded the Covid-19 Early Treatment Fund (CETF) in order to fund research into repurposed drugs to treat the illness. Donors to the CETF include David Baszucki (CEO of Roblox), Marc Benioff (CEO of Salesforce), Vint Cerf, Elon Musk (through the Musk Foundation), the Skoll Foundation and Vanguard.¹⁵⁾

At some point in 2020, Kirsch reached out to Dr. Robert Malone for help applying for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).¹⁶⁾

In June 2021, Kirsch appeared with Robert Malone on Bret Weinstein's Dark Horse podcast, discussing COVID-19 and mRNA vaccines.¹⁷⁾

In October 2021, Kirsch created the Vaccine Safety Research Foundation (VSRF) as an initiative of the Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation. The first weekly webinar was held on October 21 and featured Jessica Rose, Angela Phillips and Ivory Hecker.¹⁸⁾

On November 24, 2021, Kirsch was suspended from Twitter after sharing an article about prion diseases written by Jessica Rose.¹⁹⁾ He appeared as a guest on the Alex Jones show on InfoWars on December 29, 2021 where he discussed Robert Malone's removal from Twitter and upcoming appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, as well as several of his Substack articles.²⁰⁾

In September 2022, Kirsch submitted a video testimony to the World Health Organization as part of the second phase of public comment on the proposed pandemic treaty.²¹⁾

Kirsch started discussing his intentions to create a Super PAC to “draft” Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to run for President as early as January 2023, announcing as much on a January 23 livestream of the Vaccine Safety Research Foundation (VSRF) alongside Robert Malone.²²⁾ He followed this up with a February 13 article on his Substack titled “I'm forming a Super PAC to Draft RFK Jr. to run for President”, requesting volunteers.²³⁾

Kirsch and his wife, Michele Kirsch, donated to the Sierra Club Foundation in 2006 through their Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation.²⁴⁾ The couple is listed on the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's 2012 honor roll of donors.²⁵⁾

• Mar 12, 2022 - Of Optical Mice and Men: A Steve Kirsch Story²⁶⁾

Steve funded the original fluvoxamine study, was featured on 60 Minutes, and has been in touch with the researchers on all the trials that have been done in the US, Brazil, and Croatia.

Some of his substacks related to Fluvoxamine: https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/fluvoxamine-for-covid-what-you-need https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/do-you-know-why-there-isnt-an-eua https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/nih-is-still-unsure-whether-fluvoxamine

Steve announced December 28, 2021, he is funding a study at UCSF, conducted by Professor Aditi Bhargava. Her study will proactively contact people and find out what the actual adverse event rates are for all symptoms. Steve is funding half the study; and is seeking contributors for the remaining. See his substack article on the topic: https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/how-you-can-help-us-end-the-vaccine

Steve is one of the leaders funding this event. The goal is to demand new policies to eliminate the state sanctioned discrimination by vaccination status: “We will begin at the Washington Monument at 11:30am and end at the Lincoln Memorial where a wide range of featured guests will be waiting. Recording artists, prominent doctors, first responders, journalists, pro athletes, and premier thought leaders will give a series of inspiring “TED talks” and musical performances. We are not marching against the COVID vaccines, we’re marching against the government forcing these vaccines onto Americans. It’s something I hope we can all agree on.” Official website of the March

2009: June 3: Massachusetts General Hospital “The100 award” recognizes 100 extraordinary individuals and groups each year working to vanquish cancer

2007: December 16: Andy Rooney featured me in his “60 Minutes” commentary “If Rooney Was Rich.” He said he liked me! How can you beat that?

2006: Sep 28: Environmentalists of the Year 2006/7 (from Santa Clara League of Conservation Voters)

2004: Sep 18: Duveneck Humanitarian Award (9th annual at Hidden Villa)

2003

• Nov 11: Legacy Award winner (San Jose Magazine/Wells Fargo)
• Nov 16: Philanthropists Steve & Michele Kirsch received a National Caring Award on Nov. 16 from the Caring Institute in Washington, D.C. The award celebrates those special individuals who, in transcending self, devote their lives in service to others, especially the disadvantaged, the poor, the disabled and the dying.

2002

• December: Ranked #5 on the list of the “Top 10 Givers by Dollars”, Worth magazine (cover story) December: “25 Most Generous Young Americans,” Worth magazine (cover story)
• After surveying hundreds of individuals and nonprofits, Worth Magazine staff selected 25 people who give significantly, not only of their wealth, but also of their time and energy. Steve and Michele Kirsch are highlighted as the fifth most generous in this list.
• November 15: “Leadership in Action award,” PACT, Santa Clara County
• May: Named as one of “The Power 100 of Silicon Valley” by San Jose Magazine
• February: Forbes Midas List: Ranked #2 in Profit

2001

• April: Named as one of “The Power 100 of Silicon Valley” by San Jose Magazine
• April 26: Named to the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame

2000

• December: Cover story in Worth
• November: “Inspiration Award” at Reaching for Stars 2000 Annual Awards Dinner (San Jose Chamber of Commerce and Tech Museum)
• September: Named as one of the “Top 10 Entrepreneurs of 2000” by Red Herring magazine.
• August: Profiled in IEEE Spectrum.
• April: Ranked #96 in Worth magazine's annual list of the “100 Most Generous Americans”; cover story in Silicon Valley Magazine
• May 12: “Outstanding Leadership Award” for promoting the use of Zero Emission Vehicles from the American Lung Association of the Bay Area as part of the 2000 Annual Clean Air ENVY Awards. Also included were Certificates of Recognition from the California Senate (Sher), California Assembly (Cunneen), and US House of Representatives (Anna Eshoo).
• June 6: “Visionary Award” from the Software Development Forum
• Visitors to our home in 2000 included California Governor Gray Davis, Intel Chairman Andy Grove, and CNN founder Ted Turner.

1999

• June 15: “Heart of Silicon Valley Award” from the City of Sunnyvale for making a $1M donation to United Way in a time of urgent need.
• Unordered List ItemOutstanding Philanthropist of the Year by the Silicon Valley chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives.
• Ranked #100 on the 1999 Forbes ASAP list of High Tech's Wealthiest 100
• Ranked #8 on the 1999 Slate 60: The 60 largest American charitable contributions of 1999.
• Visitors to our home in 1999 included MIT President Charles Vest, 3Com founder Bob Metcalfe, World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, sculptor Richard Erdman, Assemblyman Jim Cunneen, and astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

1998: Ranked #63 on the Forbes ASAP list of High Tech's Wealthiest 100

1997

• Captain and co-MVP of the victorious West Coast team in the 1997 Computer Bowl sponsored by the Computer Museum.
• Named an Aspen Institute Crown Fellow. The purpose of the Henry Crown Fellowship program is to promote community-spirited leadership in the next generation of business leaders. The program honors the career of Chicago industrialist Henry Crown, a strong proponent and practitioner of ethical values in business.

1995: Named one of the most 50 influential people in cyberspace by Newsweek magazine.

1992: Finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award program.

1987: Ranked #17th most successful entrepreneur under age 30 in the United States by the Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs.

Clubhouse: Steve is active on Clubhouse.²⁷⁾

Gab: Steve enjoys free speech at Gab.com Steve Kirsch Gab.

Twitter:

• November 30, 2021: Twitter removes Steve's account (created in 2009)
• December 26, 2021: Twitter reinstates Steve's account

LinkedIN: December 25, 2021: LinkedIn bans Steve for life for making 3 truthful comments

• Crunchbase
• Gab
• Substack
• Website
• Wikipedia
• Wikispooks