John McAfee Net Worth Before Shocking Death: How Antivirus Software Tycoon Fell From $100 Million Value

The McAfee name is something you'd be very familiar with if you've ever worked on a desktop computer. Your computer could be running some version of the McAfee antivirus software right now, even.

The McAfee company was founded in 1987, and it is the largest antivirus company in the world. It was named after the founder, John McAfee.

So how did the pioneer of the cybersecurity industry find himself, at age 75, in a Spanish prison cell where he spent his final day?

John McAfee: Antivirus Software Tycoon

McAfee Corp. was born in Santa Clara, California in the year 1987. Led by John McAfee, the company dominated the market for antivirus protection of personal computers, Bloomberg said.

He had a brilliant strategy for gaining market share and establishing market dominance, according to CelebrityNetWorth. While his competitors were selling their software for $50 to $100, McAfee Corp. gave its product away for free. The company would then charge for technical support and upgrades. The strategy was able to blow away the competition and ultimately changed the software industry forever.

By the early 1990s, McAfee had grown into the largest antivirus company in the world, with half of the Fortune 100 companies using his software.

John grew bored of the company decades later, though, revealing that the company was no longer fun as it grew into a huge corporation. And by 1994, he stepped down his position as CEO, selling all of his shares for $100 Million.

A move that, in hindsight, wasn't the best considering his lifestyle and the historical events that follow.

John McAfee Net Worth: From $100 Million to $4 Million

With $100 million to his name, John went ahead and purchased properties and company bonds.

According to CelebrityNetWorth, he bought a five-acre oceanfront mansion in Hawaii, a private jet, a 157-acre ranch in New Mexico that had a movie theatre, artwork, and dozens of luxury cars. In Colorado, he built a 10,000 square foot, 280-acre estate which was a $25 million project. The Colorado estate would then become his primary home base.

He also purchased millions of dollars worth of Lehman Brothers bonds to diversify his portfolio. Unfortunately, the Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy in October 2008, leaving McAfee's investment worthless.

Realizing he was nearly out of cash, McAfee was forced to sell as many of his assets as possible. Unfortunately, this wasn't the greatest time in the American economy and by the end of it all, he was left with $4 million.

As a person who was used to such a lavish lifestyle, the net worth dip was a hard pill to swallow.

With $4 million, McAfee relocated to Belize in 2009. His money went a lot further there and he was able to purchase a waterfront bungalow compound. He also started dating a 17-year-old local girl.

McAfee launched a new-age pharmaceutical company but the local police suspected that the former CEO tycoon was actually manufacturing methamphetamine and an ultra-potent strand of bath salts, CelebrityNetWorth said.

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Authorities discovered dozens of guns in his house in a police raid in May 2012. McAfee was in jail for a night.

In November 2012, John McAfee was announced as a prime suspect for the murder of his neighbor Gregory Faull. McAfee professed his innocence, claiming he was being set up by the Belize Prime Minister and police because he wasn't well-liked by the PM. He said they killed Faull, mistaking him for McAfee, and then framed him for the crime.

He sought asylum in Guatemala in 2012 but said he wasn't on the run from the authorities in Belize. In an attempt to salvage his reputation, he turned to social media and public interviews, Bloomberg said. He sent updates to Wired magazine, allowed two Vice magazine reporters to accompany him, while also posting on his own website. He divulged how he eluded police by burying himself in the sand with a cardboard box and changing his appearance.

He was detained in Guatemala for several weeks before being deported to the U.S. in December 2012.

A Florida judge ordered McAfee to pay more than $25 million to Faull's estate.

John McAfee's Death

McAfee lived relatively free in the U.S.

In 2017, he jumped into the Bitcoin bandwagon as CEO of MGT Capital Investments Inc., with the promise to turn the former video company into a profitable cybersecurity firm. He stepped down a year later to become CEO of a cryptocurrency company, Luxcore.

He also started charging more than $105,000 per tweet to promote initial coin offerings. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was wary of the CEO as he allegedly artificially inflates a price of a cryptocurrency and then promptly selling it off.

However, in January of 2019, McAfee was on the run again for failing to file U.S. tax returns from 2014 to 2018.

He was arrested and detained by Spanish authorities last October, per Bloomberg. Six months in the Catalonian prison, he was able to tweet: "this has been the most trying period in my life."

At this point, he was still worth an estimate of $4 million from his previous business ventures.

In November, McAfee posted a photo of his latest tattoo which read "$WHACKD" on his right bicep. He also wrote: "Getting subtle messages from U.S. officials saying, in effect: 'We're coming for you McAfee! We're going to kill yourself. I got a tattoo today just in case. If I suicide myself, I didn't. I was whackd. Check my right arm."

He awaited trial and the possibility of facing up to 30 years in prison, Grunge noted. On June 23, the Spanish high court announced that McAfee would be extradited to the U.S. to face federal for his financial crimes.

Just a few hours after the news, McAfee was found dead, an apparent suicide, by security personnel. He was 75 years old.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.