Bill Gates has been one of the most outspoken public figures about the coronavirus pandemic. But the billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder has also become a leading target of various conspiracies that have popped up around the spread of Covid-19.

Conspiracy theories falsely linking Gates to the coronavirus' origins in some way or another were mentioned 1.2 million times on television or social media from February to April, according to an analysis by The New York Times and Zignal Labs, a media analytics company, released on Friday.

That's roughly 33% more than the second most popular coronavirus conspiracy theory topic during that time, which linked 5G wireless technology with the viral pandemic.

In fact, in April, conspiracy theories linking Gates to coronavirus — including some claiming Gates had prior knowledge that there would be a coronavirus pandemic, or another claiming the billionaire wanted to implant the global population with vaccine microchips to fight the Covid-19 disease — peaked at 18,000 mentions on TV and social media per day, according to Zignal Labs.

Gates is a regular presence in television and podcast interviews in which he's weighed in on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's $250 million pledge to help the world develop an effective coronavirus vaccine. He's also, at times, been critical of the timing of the U.S. government's response to the global pandemic.