John McAfee: A crazy life of searching for one thing, which he eventually found by chance
Crypto AM editor Darren Parkin chronicles the life of John McAfee, who passed away on June 23, 2021…
Born on September 18 1945 near the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, John McAfee’s early years were spent on a US Army base near Cinderford where his father was stationed in married quarters with his British mother.
Following his father’s discharge from the 596th Ordnance Ammunition Company the family moved to Salem, Virginia.
Sadly, it was in Salem where Don McAfee’s alcoholism formed the dark backdrop that would shape the family’s daily narrative, often resulting in ‘merciless beatings’ for a young John McAfee and his mother, Joan.
With some suggestion of the little-understood PTSD at the time, the family suffered at the hands of an abusive alcoholic for several years until, not long after McAfee turned 15, his father put a gun to his head and shot himself.
The long-term abuse and subsequent shock of the violent suicide took its toll on the teenager. He too began to drink heavily and turned to drugs.
Despite the addictions, the promising academic found himself clutching a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Roanake College in 1967.
The following year, he was working on a doctorate at Northeast Louisiana State College when his academic career came to an abrupt end after it was revealed he was sleeping with an undergraduate he was supposed to be mentoring.
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The couple married, and McAfee set his remarkable skills to work programming for some of the world’s biggest emerging tech companies, including NASA, General Electric and Xerox.
While his first marriage quickly fizzled out, his spark of genius with computing was igniting Silicon Valley.
Alas, McAfee’s growing dependence on drugs and alcohol led to a public breakdown while he was at work. His colleagues who witnessed his troubles urged him to seek help.
He briefly found solace with Alcoholics Anonymous, and returned to programming in the mid-1980s with Lockheed. It was here where he learned about the Brain computer virus, and developed a fascination that turned into an obsession – the fight against computer viruses.
Lockheed’s bosses were stunned at how quickly he understood the inner workings of the Brain virus, and the skill he displayed in writing a counter program.
One person who wasn’t astounded was McAfee himself. By now he had realised that his deep understanding of computer programming lent itself to the world of combatting viruses. At 41 years of age, his calling had dawned on him.
Weeks after meeting the Brain computer virus head-on, he set up McAfee Associates from his home where he created the first anti-virus software in the hope that he could encourage big businesses to buy individual licences for it. And they did… in their thousands.
Within months he had also written a book about the threat of computer viruses to the technical age, and how they could bring entire businesses to their knees.
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In 1992, a remarkable coincidence saw McAfee’s stock soar. His company had just listed with Nasdaq at the same time as the digital threat of the Michelangelo virus had IT chiefs quaking in their boots.
McAfee embraced the opportunity to stoke the already high flames of fear while simultaneously reminding boardrooms throughout the world that he also had the solution to the problem.
A year later, he stepped down as CEO of McAfee Associates, then sold his remaining stakes in 1994. He was sitting on an unimaginable fortune.
While most people would have found contentment with their wealth and lifestyle, McAfee grew bored and impatient with the world. He began buying up land and businesses he had little more than a whimsical interest in. As had been suggested to him many times throughout his early life, he was constantly looking for something – he didn’t know what it was, but he would know it when he found it.
His obsession was one of the reasons for another divorce. This time Judy – an air hostess he had met in the late 90s. By 2002, they went their separate ways.
Then came 2008. The world’s financial pillars began to crumble, as did many of the businesses that McAfee was bankrolling.
He embarked on a fire sale of his commercial assets.
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Reports at the time suggest he had lost about 75 per cent of his fortune in the global financial crash. Ever the mysterious enigma, McAfee repeatedly denied the reported size of the losses, often referring to clandestine bond holdings and surreptitious bank accounts.
Gathering up all that was left of the sell off, he headed to Belize where, once again, the ghost of alcohol and drugs came to haunt him.
He grew paranoid, convinced that criminal gangs were preparing to target him. His answer was to create his own militia and arm them with an impressive arsenal of automatic weapons.
A local – David Middleton – is believed to have made a threat towards McAfee. Middleton was later found dead. He had been tortured, and died of his injuries.
McAfee has always maintained his innocence, claiming he had nothing to do with Middleton’s death, and no charges were ever brought.
By 2012, the authorities in Belize were growing tired of McAfee’s behaviour and the threatening nature of his armed associates. A gang prevention unit raided his sprawling estate seizing a huge quantity of drugs and weapons. It turned out the weapons were not illegal, and they were returned.
One neighbour, said to be disgruntled with the ineffectiveness of the authorities, filed a complaint against McAfee. Greg Faull cited a concern over McAfee’s aggressive dogs, one of which suspiciously died through suspected poisoning.
Finger of blame
The following day, Faull was found assassinated, and the finger of blame was pointing directly at McAfee. He fled by boat to Guatemala.
Belizean authorities were determined to bring McAfee back to face questions about the circumstances behind Faull’s death. They tracked him down and an extradition order back to Belize was swiftly approved.
McAfee, however, had other ideas. He faked a heart attack and was rushed to the nearest hospital. The ruse had bought enough time for his lawyer to file an appeal, one which resulted in extradition to the US.
The following day he landed in Miami and was smoking a cigarette at the News Cafe on South Beach where a young woman approached and asked if he could spare a cigarette.
Remarkably, the chance meeting grew into an altogether more cerebral encounter, discussing great philosophies of life, as they smoked.
That night, and into the early hours, that thing that John McAfee had been looking for – the one that he knew would be that thing when he found it – presented itself there and then in the form of Janice Dyson.
The couple married in 2013, and were inseparable until John’s arrest in Spain last year.
In Miami, he returned to entrepreneurship and began investing in fast-growing businesses again. Familiarising himself with wealth once more, he became heavily involved in cryptocurrency.
Army of followers
Crypto projects were falling over themselves to be associated with McAfee, knowing that one tweet to his vast army of followers would see the stock rise.
Again, the spectre of alcohol and paranoia resurfaced. Convinced the authorities were out to get him, he took to a life on the high seas aboard a yacht branded ‘The Freedom Boat’ from which he conducted his business, flitting from country to country at will.
He would randomly show up in all kinds of places from Caribbean cocktail bars to London strip clubs, but always hand-in-hand with his wife Janice.
Many didn’t truly believe the authorities were as hell bent on collaring McAfee as he claimed. When he was holed up in Lithuania in 2019, where he turned his ‘safe house’ into a Faraday cage, critics were quick to suggest the paranoia had reached its peak.
A year later, though, on the streets of Catalonia, those fears were justified as he was being handcuffed and dragged into custody.
The remaining months of McAfee’s life have been well documented in the news, suffice to say that every day he was allowed a brief meeting or phone call. He chose only one person to dedicate that precious time to – the thing he’d spent much of his life looking for… Mrs McAfee.
John McAfee passed away on Wednesday June 23, aged 75, at Sant Esteve Sesrovires in Spain. He leaves a devoted wife, an incalculable number of children, and a lot of unanswered questions.