Updated – 06/24/2021 – John McAfee was found dead in a Spanish jail on 06/23/2021 from an apparent suicide. The Guardian reports his body was found hours after Spain’s highest court approved his extradition to the United States. Mr. McAfee faced federal criminal charges for tax evasion. The charges carried a prison sentence of up to 30 years.
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Updated – 10/26/2020 – McAfee’s second IPO did not go as planned. IPO shares of MCFE were pegged to open at $20.00 per share. It was only able to hit a high of $19.50 per share. Barron’s called the McAfee IPO “a broken deal.”
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Followers of the Bach Seat still recognize the name, McAfee. John McAfee founded the anti-malware company McAfee Associates in 1987. By 1994, he’d been forced out after telling everyone that the Michelangelo Virus was going to smash up the world’s computers on March 6, 1992. It didn’t. He looked stupid. McAfee Associates debuted on Nasdaq in October 1992. Even today, McAfee anti-malware still protects 500 million people’s computers.
McAfee was bought by Intel in August 2010 for $7.6 billion. Intel (INTC) had hoped to integrate security into the company’s chips. Intel renamed McAfee – Intel Security in January 2014. Intel lost interest in running the cybersecurity company and in September 2016 sold 51% of the security firm for $4.2 billion to VC’s TPG Global, LLC, and Thoma Bravo. The VCs resurrected the McAfee brand and filed to go public in September 2020.
Now Mr. McAfee is back in the news too. The former 2016 and 2020 Libertarian Party candidate for U.S. president was arrested at the Barcelona airport, boarding a flight to Istanbul with a British passport. He is awaiting extradition to the U.S. on federal charges, including anti-fraud provisions and tax evasion.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission filed criminal charges against him. The DOJ has charged with tax evasion they claim Mr. McAfee did not file tax returns between 2014 and 2018. McAfee was said to have received up to $23 million in compensation in the form of tokens, ethereum, and bitcoin. The SEC has accused McAfee and his bodyguard, Jimmy Watson Jr., of “illegally promoting initial coin offerings (ICOs).“
The SEC maintains that “McAfee promoted multiple ICOs on Twitter, allegedly pretending to be impartial and independent even though he was paid more than $23 million in digital assets … denied receiving any compensation from the issuers … McAfee made other false and misleading statements … he had personally invested in some of the ICOs and that he was advising certain issuers.“
The SEC complaint against Mr. Watson alleges that he, “assisted Mr. McAfee by negotiating the promotion deals with the ICO issuers, helping Mr. McAfee cash out the digital asset payments for the promotions and … having his then-spouse tweet interest in the ICO. Mr. Watson was allegedly paid at least $316,000 for his role .. investors were left holding digital assets that are now essentially worthless.“
This is not McAfee’s first time in the spotlight.
1 – April 2012 – Mr. McAfee’s compound in Belize, was raided by the Belize Police Gang Suppression Unit on suspicion it was a front for making meth. Police discovered an arsenal of weapons and a drug lab that he apparently used in an attempt to purify MDPV, a drug that’s said to enhance sexual pleasure.
2 – November 2012 – Mr. McAfee was wanted by Belize Police for questioning in the murder of his neighbor, American expatriate Gregory Faull, 52. He refused to speak with authorities about the case, making him a fugitive in the eyes of Belize authorities. He disappeared for a month.
3 – December 2012 – Mr. McAfee was arrested in Guatemala for illegally crossing the border from Belize in an attempt to find asylum from police in Belize. He was about to be deported back to Belize when he faked a heart attack, telling ABC News “Sure, I faked it … What would you have done?” His attorney was able to obtain a stay of deportation to Belize for him and Guatemalan authorities deported him to Miami.
4 – June 2013 – Mr. McAfee released an NSFW video on YouTube slamming the McAfee product.
5 – November 2013 – Mr. Faull’s family filed a wrongful death suit against Mr. McAfee. In June 2018 a Florida court issued a default ruling against (PDF). The court ordered Mr. McAfee to pay the Faull family more than $25 million.
6 – August 2015 – Mr. McAfee was arrested by the Tennessee Highway Patrol. He was arrested for DUI and possession of a handgun while under the influence. McAfee blamed Xanax. He told CNBC, “I had just that morning received a prescription for Xanax from a doctor, I’d never taken them before.”
7 – May 2016 – He was appointed chief executive chairman of MGT Capital Investments. The penny stock mobile gaming company became a “technology company” under McAfee. MGT surged more than 1,200% after the announcement it would transform into a cybersecurity company led by John McAfee. MGT changed its name to John McAfee Global Technologies, Inc.
It was then when McAfee decided to move to the mining of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. He said that this would help MGT to increase their funds as well as their expertise in dealing with blockchains. Resulting in an SEC subpoena and stock crash and delisting from the NYSE.
8 – July 2017 – Mr. McAfee in full cryptocurrency hucksterism mode tweeted about how cryptocurrencies like Tron (TRX), Verge (XVG) and Reddcoin (RDD) could revolutionize the world. He even promised to do something NSFW to himself if cryptocoin Bitcoin (BTC) didn’t hit $500K within three years.
9 – Mr. McAfee taunted U.S. regulators – January 2019 he tweeted he hasn’t filed a tax return for eight years because “taxation is illegal.” June 2019 – He tweeted from Cuba – promoting BeatzCoin (BTZC) – “Yes SEC, I’m promoting. Fucking come and get me.”
10 – July 2019 – The Dominican Republic military arrested Mr. McAfee and associates in Puerto Plata after they found several large-caliber weapons without proper documentation. He was deported to London. After landing in London he asked his Twitter followers whether he should also campaign to be British prime minister.
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John McAfee had $100 million when he left McAfee. Now he broke, paranoid, and a tax dodger. Sound like a good candidate for U.S. President.
What next? Prison? Up to 30 years if DOJ has its way. The SEC, wants him to pay back his profits and to ban him from serving as an officer or director to any company that sells securities. Let’s see if he can worm his way out of this.
Stay safe out there!
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Less than 6 months after John McAfee was found dead in his Spanish jail cell, the anti malware company that still bears his name is back in the news. The anti-malware and internet security firm, McAfee announced Monday (11/08/2021) that it had reached an agreement to be bought. The McAfee has been bought by a global investor group in a deal worth more than $14 billion.
McAfee will move forward as a privately held company. The new firm will be a pure consumer cybersecurity play. McAfee has 20 million subscribers for its security services globally.
McAfee sold it’s Enterprise business in July, 2021 for $4.50 a share to Symphony Technology Group. The sale equaled $4 billion.
2020 – McAfee goes public again with a $740 million IPO on Nasdaq under ticker symbol MCFE. This marked its return to the public market after 9 years.
CEO Wagner has lined up financial backers to help finance the AppRiver deal. Among the financial players are: