Crypto entrepreneur, software programmer, and businessman are some of late John McAfee’s well-known occupations. He initially rose to fame for founding McAfee Associates in the 1970’s, a software company that sold antivirus software. Though deceased, John McAfee had a net worth of $4 million.
Background
John David McAfee was born in Gloucestershire, England on September 18, 1945. He is the child of a US Army officer named Don and a British mother named Joan Williams. John was raised in Virginia, United States.
In 1967, McAfee got a degree in mathematics from Roanoke College, which awarded him a Doctor of Science honoris causa in 2008. At Northeast Louisiana State College, McAfee started pursuing a doctorate in mathematics but was expelled sometime in 1968.
From 1968 to 1970, McAfee worked as a developer at NASA’s Institute for Space Studies in New York City. He later became a software consultant for Computer Sciences Corporation in 1978. From 1980 to 1982, he was employed by the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.
McAfee Associates
After working several jobs over a couple of years, he joined Lockheed, an aerospace manufacturer. There, he read about PC-made malware attacks known as Brain and found them alarming. He also thought of it as a business opportunity.
So, he set about writing a software program that could automatically identify and remove computer viruses. In 1987, John established McAfee Associates Inc.and sold a program called VirusScan.
It was the first software product distributed via the internet and the first antivirus program launched on the market. He wanted to emphasize the importance of desktop virus protection and he generated millions of sales along the way. John sold his remaining equity in 1994 and resigned but the company continued to use his name as the brand.
Other Ventures
Later on, he founded Tribal Voice, which built PowWow, an instant messaging program. He then invested in and joined the board of directors of Zone Labs, a firewall software manufacturer. In 2010, he developed the herbal antibiotic firm QuorumEx.
In 2016, he became the CEO of a tech holding company called MGT Capital Investments. During the ICO boom of 2017 and 2018 McAfee promoted crypto tokens such as Dogecoin, Verge and Reddcoin. This later got him in trouble with the SEC for not disclosing payments he received for advertising projects online.
In 2016, he ran for president in the US but the campaign was unsuccessful. He tried again in 2020, but history repeated itself. In 2022, Netflix announced a documentary about John McAfee’s life was in production. The documentary is called Running with the Devil and is set to be released on August 24, 2022.
Net Worth and Earnings
John McAfee created the first commercial antivirus program and became a multi-millionaire in the process. In 1999, he was making $5 million a year. This figure doesn’t include the other businesses he founded.
He also invested in and promoted various cryptocurrencies online. At his peak, John McAfee was worth $100 million. The wealth was squandered because of legal troubles and personal reasons, he passed away with a net worth of $4 million.
Personal Life
John has been married three times. His first wife’s name is unknown, but his second partner was Judy McAfee, whom he divorced in 2002. In 2013, he married Janice Dyson who was forty years younger. In 2020, McAfee was arrested for tax evasion, and died in a Spanish prison cell a year later.
