British-born antivirus godfather John McAfee has returned to
the United States after years of exile in Belize where he did some pretty crazy
stuff. Or so he claims. With all this chatter about the man, we thought a little
overview might be nice.
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| McAfee: Real life Bond Villain |
Who is this John
McAfee fellow anyway?
McAfee is one of the pioneers of antivirus software. Back in
1987, he began the software company McAfee Associates and distributed antivirus
scanning and removal software under the shareware model. The model, McAfee’s
own, was pretty brilliant. The software was available free of charge for
individuals and McAfee recouped the costs by charging fees to businesses.
In the early ‘90s, McAfee went on television and claimed
that a doomsday virus called “Michelangelo” would wreak havoc on the United
States. The announcement instantly boosted software sales. But when it turned
out to be a hoax, the resulting scandal forced McAfee to resign two years after
the company went public.
So what did he do
after leaving his company?
Yoga.
For real.
After effectively being forced out of his own company.
McAfee became a yoga instructor in New Mexico. In fairness, the man had a ton
of money at this point and could do pretty much whatever he wanted. But really?
Yoga?
Why was he in Belize?
In 2009, McAfee told the New York Times that he lost all but
$4 million of his $100 million fortune in the market crash in 2008. Of course,
he later told tech site Gizmodo that the claim was "not very accurate at
all," so who knows what really happened.
Anyway, at this point, he decided to take his remaining
money and move to an island in Belize
At this point, you may be thinking this guy is a little
crazy. Yup. And it’s about to get so much crazier.
In Belize, McAfee had several projects, many of which
involved trying to create drugs from jungle plants. McAfee said his main focus
was creating a female version of Viagra. Perhaps appropriate considering he had
seven girlfriends who lived on his compound with him.
In addition to hoarding girlfriends, McAfee also had several
dogs, a bunch of guns, and piles of drugs. Rumor is he experimented with
chemicals in bath salts.
Anyway, last year, McAfee told local law enforcement that he
suspected his neighbor of poisoning four of his dogs in response to their
constant barking. According to one of his girlfriends, McAfee shot the affected
dogs in the head to “put them out of their misery.” But things started looking
suspicious when the accused neighbor was found dead in his house two days later,
also shot in the head.
When police came to question McAfee, he disappeared.
During his disappearance, McAfee would only speak with
reporters and frequently made contradicting claims. Sometimes he said he was
changing location every four days and sleeping in lice-infested beds. Other
times he said he was at a house very near his compound. Still other times, he
claimed he had never left the compound because he didn’t like the look of
traffic on the highway.
There is no highway near his compound.
What’s all this spy
business about?
After the police raided his property in April, McAfee says
he “went on the offensive”.
This is where it gets real. Or made up. We’re not really
sure.
McAfee then describes an elaborate scheme in which he used
his operatives to crack the phone company’s employees and get wiretaps on his
targets in the government.
Yes John, much of your life is a mystery to us as well.
McAfee goes on to describe how his wiretaps and operatives
discovered a government-backed plot to smuggle Hezbollah operatives into the
United States, sordid affairs involving officials, and an ordered assassination
by the Belizean Prime Minister.
You should really just read the entire account on his blog.
Is he a supervillain?
Probably.
Where is he now?
After illegally sneaking into Guatemala from Belize, McAfee
was deported by the Guatemalan government and is now back in the United States.
Law enforcement officials in the U.S. said they have no
arrest warrant out for McAfee.
McAfee says he’d like to relax, maybe go fishing.
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