In the heart of Silicon Valley, a legend was born. Mentioning the name John McAfee, and people will likely immediately think of the computer pop-up associated with the "McAfee antivirus" software. A pioneer in the world of cybersecurity, who founded the iconic McAfee antivirus software in the late 80s, it became a household name, protecting millions of computers around the world. He was hailed as a tech genius and a visionary, but his eccentricities and larger-than-life personality soon became his downfall.

From being a fugitive wanted for the murder of his next door neighbour in Belize, all the way to his extradition for tax evasion, his drug-fuelled benders on super yachts and the belief he held that he was being hunted by national armies and drug cartels, the whole story is complex, messy and almost unbelievable – much like McAfee himself.

But who was the real John McAfee, and where did it all start to go so terribly wrong?

McAfee

Here was a man who did sex yoga. Who practiced the ridiculously fatal sport of aerotrekking. Who ranged the world gathering sycophants around him, investing in power yachts, designer chemical labs, bodyguards and shotguns, and, above all else, making his life a holy shrine to his penis, and his life's work the putting of that penis into as many young ladies as would have it. But before the world turned their focus into McAfee's unbelievable lifestyle practices, he was known as the man who protected computers all over the world from pesky softwares.

During his time at Lockheed in the early 1980s, McAfee became aware of the increasing prevalence of computer viruses and their potential to wreak havoc on the industry. In response, he developed an antivirus software called VirusScan capable of detecting and eliminating computer viruses automatically. This pioneering product led to the establishment of his company, McAfee Associates.

By the year 1992, he had successfully brought the McAfee company to the stock market, profiting $100 million for himself. However, by 1994, he was ousted from the company following his false prediction about the Michelangelo Virus causing havoc to computers worldwide on March 6, 1992, which did not come to pass. Despite appearing foolish, he remained extraordinarily wealthy. With his created business now out of his hands, McAfee found himself effectively retired at just 47 years old. The question then arose: what would a man known for his ambition and foresight do next?

As it turned out, his path led to a descent into increasing madness, a trajectory that has enticed numerous exceedingly affluent and overly imaginative individuals throughout history.

Bitcoin

No doubt, you would expect McAfee to at least have some sort of connection or part in the world of cryptocurrency, given his wealth and likelyness to comprehend new online concepts. He into the cryptocurrency craze, assuming the role of CEO at MGT Capital Investments. In a bold prediction on Twitter in July 2017, McAfee forecasted that the price of one bitcoin would surge to $500,000 within three years, declaring, "If not, I will eat my own dick on national television."

It started back in 2011, when McAfee’s friends pressured him into reading the Bitcoin white paper published by its pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto. The computer programmer was impressed with the power of Bitcoin's mathematics and saw the digital asset's world-changing potential.

The US Justice Department indicted McAfee on June 15, 2020, alleging tax evasion and willful failure to file tax returns for millions of income he earned via speaking engagements and other crypto-related projects. McAfee and his bodyguard Jimmy Gale Watson Jr are accused of promoting cryptocurrencies to Mr McAfee's large Twitter following to inflate prices. The currencies were then allegedly sold, making the pair $2m (£1.45m), prosecutors said.

Early Life

John David McAfee entered the world in 1945 in Cinderford, a quaint English town situated close to a US Army base where his father, Donald, served as a soldier and was reportedly an abusive drunk who died by suicide when McAfee was 17. His mother, Joan, hailed from Britain, making John their sole child.

McAfee styled himself as a mad genius with an addictive personality. By his own account, he sold magazine subscriptions to fund his undergraduate math degree at Roanoke College and ended up making a small fortune. He finished his BA in 1967 but spent much of the cash getting drunk. A year later, he enrolled in an advanced degree program at Northeast Louisiana State College, where he also taught classes, but was kicked out for having sex with one of his students, an undergraduate whom he later married.

Belize

John McAfee moved to Belize in 2008 and lived in a mansion on Ambergris Caye beach for several years. While in Belize, McAfee became involved in various ventures, including founding a company that developed antibiotics from jungle plants. He also established a compound in Belize where he lived and conducted research alongside Allison Adonizo.

Allison was a young microbiologist who was conducting research in Belize where she met him. Her discoveries may lead to a totally new type of antibiotic that could be used to block and treat infections found in humans. They partnered and started a company called Quorum Ex and built a lab on a property 22 acres inland, near the town of Carmelita.

Out of fear of gangsters, he took the initiative to establish his own security force, predominantly composed of individuals with criminal backgrounds. In response to alleged threats from a local gangster named David Middleton, he entered into an agreement with another party. Middleton was later discovered tortured and ultimately passed away, yet no one was ever formally charged. By 2012, McAfee's behavior began to mirror the themes of Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," exerting control over the town and even imposing curfews by ordering locals off the streets.

Additionally, he was cultivating a group of young women to form a harem around him. As documented in "Gringo," interviews with the girls revealed that McAfee's sexual preferences revolved around coprophilia while positioned beneath a hammock; McAfee refutes these claims, asserting that the girls were compensated to fabricate stories. Amidst the escalating turmoil, the unsettling atmosphere prompted Adonizio to express her desire to depart. She alleges that McAfee drugged and sexually assaulted her before she managed to escape with the help of friends.

Gregory Faull

McAfee's time in Belize was marked by controversy and legal issues. He became embroiled in disputes with his neighbors, local authorities, and the government. In 2012, McAfee's neighbor, Gregory Faull, was found murdered, and McAfee went into hiding, claiming that he was being framed by the Belizean government. In 2012, McAfee and Faull had a falling-out due to the actions of McAfee's four dogs, which were causing distress to Faull's parrot. Subsequently, McAfee's dogs were poisoned and fatally harmed. The following day, Faull was discovered deceased with a single gunshot wound to his head.

McAfee was a person of interest in Faull's death, and when Belize authorities came to question him, he fled, claiming that the government intended to silence him.

"I thought maybe they were coming for me. They mistook him for me. They got the wrong house," McAfee told Wired. "He's dead. They killed him. It spooked me out."

A month before his death, Faull filed a complaint against McAfee. It accused him of failing to contain his "8-12 vicious dogs" that were allegedly attacking residents and tourists, that his security guards walked around the compound with guns at night, and that there was an incessant coming and goings of traffic to McAfee's property.

Two of McAfee's dogs were fed a poisoned tortilla the day before Faull died.

Arrested in Guatemala

This incident purportedly stemmed from Vice, which dispatched two reporters to conduct an interview with McAfee. Regrettably, Vice published photos of McAfee that inadvertently contained GPS coordinates, which led to Guatemalan authorities apprehending McAfee, charging him with illegal entry into the country.

During his period in custody, McAfee coincidentally experienced a series of heart-related health complications that necessitated hospitalization. Initially slated for deportation to Belize, he was ultimately repatriated to the United States.

Spiralling Down to Madness

Anti Anti-Virus

In 2013, he posted a video titled "How To Uninstall McAfee Antivirus," in which he was depicted surrounded by scantily clad women while attempting to remove the software he had developed, a product he openly criticized after parting ways with the company. The video featured firearms and references to drugs and drug usage, although it was purportedly crafted as a satirical take on the public's perception of him, according to NBC.

John McAfee then 75, tied the knot with Janice Dyson, 39 in 2013 and later disclosed in a tweet from January 2020 that he claimed to have 47 children. The pair decided to get married only after he picked her up for her sex services in Miami. Janice mentioned in an interview in 2017 that McAfee had saved her from a violent pimp after years of sex trafficking.

McAfee has been married three times throughout his life. His first marriage was to one of his students but there is little information about their union and her name remains unknown. His second marriage was to Judy McAfee. When the two got married, Judy helped him build his company which was founded in 1987. Judy is also a former flight attendant at American Airlines and a yoga enthusiast. The two divorced in 2002.

Arrested in Spain

Prosecutors alleged that he neglected to file tax returns for a span of four years, despite generating substantial earnings from consulting engagements, public speaking appearances, cryptocurrency activities, and selling the rights to his life narrative. None of this income is linked to the software company that carries his name.

Back in 2018, McAfee was allegedly charging as much as $105,000 per Tweet to promote initial coin offerings (ICOs) on social media.

The SEC was pursuing a civil penalty against him and aims to reclaim any purportedly obtained gains, along with interest. Furthermore, the SEC seeks to permanently prohibit him from holding any officer or director positions in a publicly traded company or any entity that submits reports to the SEC.

The US SEC filed charges of “pump and dump” fraud of fake crypto-currency. Spain’s Audencia Nacional authorised his extradition; then shortly he was found hanging in his cell.

In a Tweet two years prior, McAfee stated: "If I suicide myself, I didn't. I was whacked," leading to conspiracy theories that the businessman’s death may have resulted from an orchestrated attack.

His attorney stated that McAfee did not exhibit any signs of being suicidal, while his widow contended that he was potentially killed to prevent him from disclosing information he possessed about influential figures in the United States.

Mourning Widow

Since McAfee's death, Janice has remained in Spain in an undisclosed location and has only been saved from homelessness by the kindness of friends. She can't move on because she still doesn't know what happened to her husband in spite of a September ruling last year from a Catalan court that John McAfee died by suicide and the case was effectively closed.

“For more than two years, I've not only had to deal with the tragedy of John's death, but it's so hard to move on because the authorities refuse to release the autopsy of his death. I have tried and tried, but they will not let me see it."

Janice also cannot believe that when he was found in the cell with a ligature or shoelace around his neck, medical practitioners there appeared to have attempted CPR on him without removing it first.

Janice McAfee, believes it was not suicide. She also points to the tattoo that McAfee got two years before his death and of which he tweeted: “I got a tattoo today just in case. If I suicide myself, I didn't. I was whackd. Check my right arm.”

Despite amassing a wealth exceeding $100 million upon his departure from the McAfee antivirus company in 1994 and the subsequent sale of his stock, John McAfee's official fortune had reportedly dwindled to an estimated $4 million by the time of his passing, as per Celebrity Net Worth.

In 2019, he asserted that he was financially destitute and unable to settle a $25 million court ruling related to a wrongful death lawsuit. Despite declarations from prison to his million-strong Twitter following that he possessed no hidden cryptocurrency and owned nothing, he professed having no regrets.

Janice disclosed that her late husband had not left behind a will or estate, indicating a lack of financial resources. Given the judgments against him in the United States, the likelihood of any monetary inheritance passing to her is deemed highly improbable.