What was John McAfee’s net worth at the time of his death?
John McAfee was an English-American businessman and computer programmer who had a net worth of $10 million at the time of his death. He is best known as the founder of McAfee Associates.
In 2016, McAfee launched an unsuccessful bid for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination during the election.
He was born on September 18, 1945, in Cinderford, England, UK, as John David McAfee.
His parents moved to Roanoke, Virginia when he was young.
John described his father as ”an alcoholic and abusive.” His father committed suicide when McAfee was 15 years old.
From 1968 to 1970, he was employed as a programmer by NASA’s Institute for Space Studies in NYC.
In the early 1980s, McAfee worked on a classified voice-recognition program for Lockheed.
In 1986, the first computer virus hit PCs. About one year later, he founded McAfee Associates, a computer anti-virus company. The company created the first commercial antivirus software.
McAfee says he wrote the antivirus program ”in a day and a half.” John also said that ”eight months after I started, there was $10m in the bank.”
In the mid-1990s, he sold his shares in the software company and reportedly made $100 million.
Later, McAfee founded Tribal Voice, a company that developed the instant messaging program, called ”PowWow.”
In 2001, he published the book ”Into the Heart of Truth: The Spirit of Relational Yoga.” In the book, McAfee provides practices to help the reader develop in-depth self-awareness and also writes about the history of yoga.
In 2009, John started a company that he said would manufacture plants from the Belize jungle into antibiotics.
In 2012, he was considered a “person of interest” when his neighbor Gregory Faull was shot to death. Raphael Martinez, a police spokesperson, told FT: ”He is still just a person of interests the investigation.” Later, McAfee left Belize for Guatemala, where he was arrested on charges of entering the country illegally. John was about to be deported back to Belize when he faked a heart attack.
On December 12, 2012, he was released from detention in Guatemala and deported to the US. Faull’s death still remains unsolved.
In 2013, John started a company called ”Future Tense Central” to produce a secure computer network.
In September 2015, McAfee decided to start a new political party called The Cyber Party. In December 2015, he announced that he would instead seek the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party. He lost to former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson.
In May 2016, John was appointed as the CEO of the technology holding company, MGT Capital Investments (he left the company in early 2018). Also in 2016, he was the subject of filmmaker Nanette Burstein’s Showtime documentary, ”Gringo.” McAfee described the documentary as fiction.
On August 13, 2018, he took the position of CEO with the cryptocurrency company, Luxcore.
In March 2019, McAfee ordered to pay $25 million over Gregory Faull’s murder. Later that year, he was arrested by the Dominican Republic Armed Forces while docking his yacht in Puerto Plata. He left detention after “four days of confinement.”
In December 2019, he announced his intentions to run for president in the US 2020 elections. John tweeted: ”The McAfee 2020 US Presidential Campaign has now formally begun.”
In July 2020, McAfee tweeted that Intel corporation is suing him due to the use of the name “GhostbyMcAfee.”
On October 6, 2020, he was arrested in Spain over tax evasion charges.
Wife
John McAfee married Janice Dyson in 2013.
He reportedly met his wife in Miami on his first day back on US soil.
Janice said in an interview about their first meeting: ”It was, I don’t know how to say it, magical — cause he saw the hurt that was there.”
The couple lived in a gun-filled mansion in Tennessee. His personal bodyguard John Pool was always at their side.
He was previously married to Judy McAfee.
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Death
On June 23, 2021, McAfee was found dead in a Barcelona prison, hours after the Spanish National Court ordered his extradition to the US.
In June 2022, Reuters reported that McAfee’s corpse is still in the Spanish morgue.
Quotes
”If you read just one book of Jiddu Krishnamurti, you will be a different human being.”
”If the majority holds some thing of value, you can be certain it has none.”
”I’m a mad man to some people because I don’t follow the normal rules.”
”A good example is more irritating than a bad one.”
”One never knows what the future holds.”
”You must believe there’s nothing that happens electronically that I can’t find out about.”
Trivia
In 2013, he uploaded a video titled – “How To Uninstall McAfee Antivirus.”
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Net Worth
So, how much was John McAfee worth at the time of his death? McAfee earned most of his wealth from founding the company McAfee Associates. By the end of the 1980s, McAfee Associates was making $5 million a year. It was acquired by Intel in 2010 for $7.68 billion. John sold his shares in McAfee Associates for $100 million. Therefore, at the time of his death, British-American computer programmer John McAfee had an estimated net worth of $10 million.
He also founded Tribal Voice, which developed the instant messaging program ”Pow Wow.”
McAfee has also been involved in leadership positions in other companies, including Luxcore, MGT Capital Investments, and Everykey. In addition, John founded Future Tense Central and QuorumEx.
His investments suffered in the global crisis of 2007. The New York Times reported that his personal fortune had declined to $4 million in August 2009. However, John later said he had lied about the loss of his fortune.
In 2019, McAfee said that he is charging $105,000 for tweets promoting ICOs.
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leslie freres
Thursday 24th of June 2021
My Grandma always said you dont have to be crazy but it helps. I dont know but what Ive seen and read about Mcaffee except my gut feeling is I like him and much of what he says intrigues me. I guess Im an admirer and today feel sadness he is gone. I wish I could've spent time with him as I could've learned alot especially in protecting myself. Invasion of privacy is heinous. Didnt know he was in prison and had lost everything. I wouldnt have blinked at making an ample donation to help him. Rest in peace fascinating soul!
bluarcher
Thursday 10th of June 2021
a brilliant guy...everyone makes mistakes....he'll come out of this and be the better for it, no doubt.