John McAfee was a British-American computer programmer who founded the antivirus company that carries his name and then spent his later years cycling through a Belize murder investigation, U.S. tax evasion and cryptocurrency fraud indictments, two Libertarian presidential bids, and a June 2021 death in a Spanish prison cell that authorities ruled a suicide.1BBC News. John McAfee Found Dead in Spanish Prison
Who He Was Before the Headlines
McAfee was born in the United Kingdom in the mid-1940s and moved to Roanoke, Virginia, as a young child. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Roanoke College in 1967 and later received an honorary Doctor of Science from the same school in 2008.2Encyclopedia.pub. John McAfee A doctoral program at Northeast Louisiana State College ended around 1968 when he was expelled after a relationship with an undergraduate.3Bitstamp. John McAfee
He coded punch-card systems in the late 1960s, moved to Silicon Valley in the 1970s, and worked for NASA’s Institute for Space Studies and Lockheed during the 1980s. In 1983, while at a California firm called Omex, he was using cocaine, quaaludes, and alcohol heavily before entering Alcoholics Anonymous.4Wired. John McAfee’s Last Stand
The arrival of the first PC viruses in 1986 pushed him to start his own company the next year. McAfee Associates was generating $5 million a year by the end of the decade.5Business Insider. The Crazy Life of John McAfee He resigned in 1994 and sold his remaining shares two years later for roughly $100 million. His relationship with the brand curdled: in 2013 he released a viral video titled “How To Uninstall McAfee Antivirus,” mocking the software while surrounded by guns and scantily clad women.6Business Insider. The Insane Life of John McAfee
McAfee lost much of his fortune in the 2008 financial crisis, in part on a large bet on Lehman Brothers bonds. He sold a Colorado estate once valued at $25 million for $5.7 million, along with a Hawaii mansion, a New Mexico ranch, and a private jet.7The National News. How Much Was John McAfee Worth When He Died in Prison Around 2008 he moved to Belize.
The Neighbor’s Death in Belize
McAfee’s years in Belize were volatile. In April 2012 the Belizean Gang Suppression Unit raided his property on suspicion he was manufacturing methamphetamine, seizing his passport and licensed weapons and briefly jailing him before dropping the charges. He insisted the raid was political payback for refusing a $2 million campaign donation.8BBC News. John McAfee in Belize
On November 11, 2012, McAfee’s neighbor in the Mata Grande area of Ambergris Caye, Gregory Faull, was found dead in his home with a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. Police recovered a 9mm casing. There was no forced entry, but Faull’s iPhone and laptop were missing.9ABC News. Belize Murder Victim Confronted John McAfee Over Dogs Court records indicated the body also bore multiple Taser marks and a foreign fingernail embedded in the scalp.10FindLaw. Estate of Faull v. McAfee
The two men had been feuding. Faull had led neighborhood complaints about McAfee’s dogs, armed security guards, and noise.9ABC News. Belize Murder Victim Confronted John McAfee Over Dogs The later wrongful death suit alleged McAfee had threatened to kill Faull if he entered his property, and that after McAfee’s dogs were poisoned, he directed an employee to pay a local man named Eddie McKoy $5,000 to kill Faull.10FindLaw. Estate of Faull v. McAfee
Belizean police named McAfee a person of interest. Rather than cooperate, he went into hiding, dyeing his hair, beard, and eyebrows black, and telling reporters he feared authorities meant to kill him. Prime Minister Dean Barrow called him “bonkers” and told him to “man up” and speak with police.9ABC News. Belize Murder Victim Confronted John McAfee Over Dogs In December 2012 he fled to Guatemala, was apprehended there, and, according to court filings, faked a heart attack to avoid extradition and instead traveled to the United States.10FindLaw. Estate of Faull v. McAfee He never returned to Belize.11BBC News. John McAfee Found Dead in Prison Cell
McKoy was detained by Belize police in October 2016 after a documentary raised new questions about the case, but officers said there was “not enough to charge him” and released him the next day.127 News Belize. Eddie McCoy Detained for Questioning McAfee was never criminally charged in Belize.
Faull’s family sued for wrongful death in U.S. federal court. After years of procedural fighting, including a 2018 Eleventh Circuit ruling that revived the case, a Florida federal judge in March 2019 entered a $25 million default judgment against McAfee, who had never responded.10FindLaw. Estate of Faull v. McAfee13Law360. McAfee Founder Must Pay $25M Over Belize Neighbor’s Death McAfee openly refused to pay, telling a Belizean outlet he had “no assets” and had not responded to any of the 37 lawsuits filed against him over the prior eleven years, which he said carried outstanding judgments totaling more than $200 million.14Breaking Belize News. McAfee Found Liable for Wrongful Death in US Courts, Refuses to Pay
Federal Tax and Cryptocurrency Charges
McAfee sought the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination in 2016 and again for the 2020 cycle. The second run he described as a “campaign-in-exile,” living outside the United States because, by his own admission, he had not paid federal income taxes in eight years.15Washington Examiner. Libertarian John McAfee Is Running for President From Exile
The tax charges caught up with him on June 15, 2020, when a federal grand jury in the Western District of Tennessee indicted him on tax evasion and willful failure to file tax returns. Prosecutors alleged that from 2014 through 2018 he earned millions from cryptocurrency promotion, consulting, speaking, and selling documentary rights, yet filed nothing, hiding income in nominee bank and cryptocurrency accounts and concealing real property, a vehicle, and a yacht called the Great Mystery under other names.16U.S. Department of Justice. John McAfee Indicted for Tax Evasion The exposure on all counts totaled up to 30 years in prison.17CBS News. John McAfee Arrested in Spain
A separate seven-count indictment was unsealed on March 5, 2021, in the Southern District of New York, charging McAfee and his executive adviser Jimmy Gale Watson Jr. with conspiracy to commit commodities and securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors described two schemes: a “pump-and-dump” from December 2017 to January 2018, in which the pair allegedly bought cheap altcoins, hyped them on McAfee’s Twitter account, and sold their positions for more than $2 million without disclosing ownership; and, separately, more than $11 million in undisclosed pay for promoting initial coin offerings, in violation of federal securities disclosure rules.18U.S. Department of Justice. John David McAfee and Executive Adviser Indicted in Manhattan
The SEC filed a parallel civil complaint alleging McAfee failed to disclose more than $23 million in ICO promotion pay, made false claims about his personal investments, and participated in the pump-and-dump. The agency sought disgorgement, civil penalties, and a permanent officer-and-director bar.19U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC Charges John McAfee With Fraudulently Touting ICOs The CFTC filed its own action the same day, identifying the manipulated assets as Verge, Dogecoin, and Reddcoin.20U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. CFTC Charges John McAfee and Jimmy Gale Watson After McAfee’s death, the SEC’s claims against him were dismissed.21U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC Litigation Release – Watson Consent Judgment
Arrest in Spain and Death in Prison
On the day the tax indictment was unsealed in October 2020, Spanish police arrested McAfee at Barcelona’s international airport as he tried to board a flight to Turkey, acting on a warrant from Tennessee.1BBC News. John McAfee Found Dead in Spanish Prison He spent his remaining months in pretrial detention at the Brians 2 penitentiary near Barcelona.
Testifying by video from prison on June 15, 2021, McAfee argued the charges were political and that extradition would leave him to die in a U.S. cell.22News4Jax. US Antivirus Software Creator Fights Extradition From Spain Spain’s National Court disagreed, found “no revealing evidence” of political motivation, and authorized his extradition on June 23, 2021.1BBC News. John McAfee Found Dead in Spanish Prison
Hours later, guards found him dead in his cell. He was 75. The Catalan justice department said “everything indicates” he had taken his own life, and medics could not resuscitate him.1BBC News. John McAfee Found Dead in Spanish Prison An autopsy concluded the cause of death was suicide by hanging, and a note was found in his pocket.23El País. Body of US Software Mogul John McAfee Still in Barcelona Morgue
His widow, Janice McAfee, disputed the finding and pushed for an independent second autopsy.24Vanity Fair. John McAfee Autopsy Report The Provincial Court of Barcelona rejected the family’s appeal, ruling there was “not a single element of suspicion of charges against third parties” and “no indication of anything other than death by suicide.”25Anadolu Agency. Barcelona Court Rules John McAfee’s Death in Prison Was Suicide More than a year after his death, his body was still in a Barcelona morgue as the family’s appeals over autopsy records worked through the courts.26USA Today. John McAfee’s Body Still in Spain
What Happened to His Money and the Company
At his peak, McAfee was worth more than $100 million. Estimates at the time of his death put his net worth at roughly $4 million, and days before he died he claimed on Twitter that U.S. authorities had seized what was left.7The National News. How Much Was John McAfee Worth When He Died in Prison
The company he founded had long since moved on. Intel bought McAfee Associates in 2010 for $7.68 billion, rebranded it Intel Security, and later sold it back out to TPG in a deal valued at $4.2 billion. The company returned to the McAfee name, went public, and was taken private again in late 2021 by a group led by Advent International and Permira for about $12 billion.27Dark Reading. The Story of McAfee28The Wall Street Journal. McAfee to Sell Itself to a Private-Equity-Led Group The firm that still carries his name operates today as a private cybersecurity business with no public connection to its founder.29McAfee. McAfee Investors
A Netflix documentary, Running With the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee, released in August 2022 and directed by Charles Russell, drew largely on footage shot by Vice reporter Rocco Castoro beginning in 2012, following McAfee through his flight from Belize, his presidential run, and the events leading to Barcelona.30CNN. Running With the Devil Review