As countless people around the world lose their livelihoods as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the super-rich have come under increased scrutiny for their actions during this extremely difficult time.
With an estimated wealth of $4.2 billion USD, Sir Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Atlantic, has come under fire for asking for government bailouts and telling his staff to take extended leave or voluntary redundancy, despite having the personal wealth to solve the problems he is experiencing because of the pandemic.
Now, a petition has been created in the UK to strip Branson of his knighthood - which he received in 2000 for services to entrepreneurship - and it has already received 17,000 signatures.
Virgin Australia is seeing a $1.4 million ASD bailout from the government:The petition reads: "'Sir' Richard Branson is a British entrepreneur who is a disgrace to his country. His personal wealth is estimated at £4.2bn
"His company Virgin Care SUED the NHS for an undisclosed figure in 2017. Yet he takes 4.5% of all donations given to the NHS through Virgin Giving which has amounted to millions!!!
"He also is asking for a £500M bailout of UK taxpayers money for his company Virgin Atlantic 49% of which is owned by Delta - an AMERICAN company! He has also put thousands of staff on extended leave or asked them to take voluntary redundancy."
The petition continues: "He has also NEVER paid personal income tax since moving to the tax haven British Virgin Islands 14 years ago.
"[It's] unacceptable rich billionaires are milking the system in times of national crisis.
"Richard Branson is a traitor to his country and should be stripped of his knighthood!"
In an interview with the Metro, the petition's founder said: "What he's doing is wrong. You can't beg for the UK to pour money to bailout a half-American company when you're sitting on an island wherever you are not paying tax.
The 26-year-old anonymous creator of the petition, who is from Nottingham, said that the petition reflects how resentful people feel about Branson's actions
He added: "You're not going to get him stripped of his knighthood but this is how people are feeling, it's just the level of resentment."
You can find the Change.org petition HERE.