Who is John McAfee? Antivirus creator revealed after presidential run announcement

  • John McAfee has just announced a run for the US Presidency in 2020
  • McAfee is best-known as the creator of the McAfee antivirus software programs
  • His net worth, while impressive, is actually just a fraction of what it once was

Could the next President of the United States be the colorful – and controversial – technology entrepreneur John MacAfee?

By his own admission, his chances of being elected are essentially zero. But that hasn’t stopped the businessman from continuing on with his Presidential bid, dismissing those who view it as nothing more than a publicity stunt and vowing to use his national platform to promote a new technology he believes will ultimately ‘save’ the United States.

But just who is John McAfee? Here’s a look at who he is, including his recent Presidential campaign announcement.

John McAfee recently announced his second bid for the United States Presidency on Twitter

John McAfee recently announced his second bid for the United States Presidency on Twitter

Who is John McAfee?

John McAfee is a computer programmer and entrepreneur best known as the founder of McAfee, LLC, the security software company that’s among the largest computer security firms in the world.

He was born in Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England on September 18, 1945 on a US Army base. His father was an American stationed on the base during World War II while his mother was of British descent.

Raised in Salem, Virginia, he graduated from Roanoke College in 1967 with a degree in mathematics and later worked as a programmer in New York City for NASA’s Institute for Space Studies from 1968 to 1970 before working for Univac and Xerox to work in software design and operations. 

McAfee later worked for Computer Sciences Corporation starting in 1978 and the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton from 1980 to 1982.

While employed by the Lockheed Corporation in the 1980s, he began developing his own antivirus software after receiving a copy of the infamous Brain computer virus.

Shortly afterwards, he founded McAfee Associates, known today as McAfee LLC, in 1987 to develop computer security software. McAfee soon quit working at the Lockheed Corporation in 1989 to focus on the company full-time, which he first ran from his Santa Clara, California home.

The computer security firm was incorporated in Delaware in 1992 and experienced rapid growth with the dramatic expansion of the information technology sector of the US economy in the 1990s. McAfee ultimately resigned from the company in 1994.

After leaving the company, he founded Tribal Voice, which developed the early instant messaging service PowWow, and joined the board of directors of the software security company Zone Labs in 2000.

Unfortunately, a series of unfortunate business investments and the impact of the Great Recession caused McAfee’s wealth to plunge after 2008, forcing him to sell many of his assets and relocate to Belize, known for its low cost of living.

In November 2012, he was sought as a ‘person of interest’ for the murder of American expatriate Gregory Viant Faull in Belize. McAfee fled to Guatemala to seek asylum but was arrested and deported to the United States.

Since then, authorities in Belize have not further sought his imprisonment for any alleged crimes and he currently resides in Lexington, Tennessee.

More recently, McAfee sought the Libertarian Party nomination in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election and later announced his 2020 bid for the White House in June 2018.

How old is John McAfee?

John McAfee is 73 years old.

He was born on September 18, 1945.

Who is John McAfee’s wife?

McAfee’s wife is Janice Dyson, whom he’s been married to since 2013.

What is John McAfee’s net worth?

Per Celebrity Net Worth, John McAfee’s net worth is believed to be about $4 million (£3m).

How does John McAfee make his money?

McAfee’s wealth is the result of his most successful business venture McAfee Associates, now known as McAfee LLC, which produced the world’s first commercial antivirus software. McAfee ran the company from its founding in 1987 until his resignation in 1994.

Notably, McAfee’s wealth was much higher, believed to be more than $100 million (£76.7m) in 2007, until a series of ill-fated investments, including a large share of Lehman Brothers’ bonds, and the 2008 financial crash caused his wealth to quickly plummet.

The collapse of his net worth forced McAfee to sell off many of his assets, including his Cessna private jet, mansion in Hawaii and ranch in New Mexico. He was also forced to sell his $25 million (£19.1m) luxury mansion in Colorado for just $5.7 million (£4.3m).

John McAfee presidential run

On June 3, 2018, McAfee announced via Twitter that he would be running for US President in 2020, vowing to run either as a nominee for the Libertarian Party or to create his own political party.

Interestingly, McAfee openly admitted that he had no chance of being elected, instead vowing to change the process of regular Presidential campaigns and to ‘tell the truth’ to the American people.

On October 3, 2018, after announcing more details about his Presidential campaign, including that Rob Loggia would be his campaign manager, McAfee doubled down on his previous statement that he had no chance of being elected and instead expressed a desire to use the national platform his Presidential run would give him to promote blockchain technology and cryptocurrency for their promise of economic freedom, believing it was the only way to ‘save’ the United States.

In another recent tweet on October 4, 2018, McAfee also dismissed criticisms that his Presidential campaign was nothing more than a ‘publicity stunt’ and that he was ‘twice as committed’ to his 2020 bid.

McAfee’s 2020 Presidential bid represents his second run for the White House, as he previously ran for President in the 2016 election.

He initially announced his 2016 Presidential bid on September 8, 2015 as a candidate for the newly-formed Cyber Party. 

However, he later announced on December 24, 2015 that he would instead be seeking the Presidential nomination for the Libertarian Party, though former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson was later chosen as the party’s nominee.

Politically, McAfee reportedly identifies as a Libertarian, supporting cannabis decriminalization, a free market economy and a US foreign policy based on noninterventionism.

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