John McAfee was counted as one of the most influential businessmen in the United States. He became famous for his computer programming skills. Today, we will discover John McAfee net worth, early life, and career.
Who is John McAfee?
John McAfee was a British-American computer programmer. He was also a two-time presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party. John gained wider recognition for writing anti-virus software for computers in 1987.
It was considered the first commercial anti-virus software in the world. He founded McAfee Associates to sell his software program.
Besides these, John also programmed several other software, like PowWow, QuorumEx, and Future Tense Central. All of his software made a great contribution to computer science.
Short Bio of John McAfee
| Full Name | John David McAfee |
| Birthdate | 18 September 1945 |
| Birthplace | Cinderford, Gloucestershire, England |
| Died | 23 June 2021 (aged 75) |
| Death Place | Sant Esteve Sesrovires, Catalonia, Spain |
| Cause of death | Suicide |
| Height | 6′ 0″(1.83 m) |
| Nationality | American, British |
| Profession | Businessman, computer programmer, perennial candidate |
| Social Media | |
| Net Worth | $4 million |
John McAfee Net Worth
John McAfee left 4 million U.S. dollars before his death. Being a successful programmer and businessman is the main reason behind his massive net worth. He invented several essential software and launched them commercially.
John also founded his global computer security software company, McAfee Corp. (McAfee Associates, Inc.) in 1987. This company generated a vast profit for John each year.
Early Life
John McAfee was born in Cinderford, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. His father, Don McAfee, was an American army officer, and his mother, Joan (Williams), was British.
After completing high school, John attended Roanoke College, where he received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1967.
Later, he enrolled in a mathematics doctorate program at Northeast Louisiana State College. However, he was expelled in 1968 because of a relationship with an undergraduate student.
Sources Behind John McAfee Net Worth
Early Career
John started his professional career by joining NASA’s Institute for Space Studies in New York City as a programmer in 1968. There, he worked on the Apollo program. He left Nasa in 1970 and joined Univac as a software designer. After this, he moved to Xerox and started working there as an operating system architect.
From 1978 to 1980, John worked in a software consultant film named Computer Sciences Corporation. After leaving this corporation, John worked at Booz Allen Hamilton Corporation for two years and at Lockheed Corporation for five years.
John gathered a lot of experiences from these early works. These jobs also allowed him to accumulate much wealth from the beginning of his career.
McAfee Associates Inc. (1986 to 1992)
John heard about the Brain computer virus in 1986 while employed by Lockheed. He found it terrifying and went about creating an antivirus software that could detect the computer virus and also remove it automatically.
For this purpose, John wrote an anti-virus software program and named it VirusScan. Later, in 1987, John founded McAfee Associates Inc. to sell this software.
The software was considered the first anti-virus software brought to market. It became one of the first software products to be distributed over the Internet.
During that time, modern computers faced the computer virus attacking problem so much. For this reason, people wanted to get rid of this problem badly. At that crucial time, John caught the market and raised awareness of the need to be protected from computer viruses.
Because of people’s fear of such malware, John managed to generate millions of sales. He started generating $5 million a year then. John’s company, McAfee Associates, was incorporated in Delaware in 1992, and in the same year, it gained an initial public offering.
McAfee Associates Inc. (1992 to Present)
John served as the company’s chief executive and chief technical officer. In 1993, he stepped down from this post and sold his remaining stake in the company. After leaving this company, John was never involved in it.
After various mergers and ownership changes, Intel owned this company in 2010. Later, Intel started marketing the company’s product as Intel Security in 2014. Currently, this company is owned by Advent International and Permira, international investment firms. As of 2021, the company’s revenue stands at US$1.92 billion.
Other Software Programs
Besides the anti-virus program, John developed several other popular computer software programs. In 1994, John founded Tribal Voice and developed the first instant messaging program, PowWow, under this company. This program became very popular soon after its release.
In 2007, John invested in the firewall software developer company Zone Labs and joined the the board of directors of the company. Later, John also invested in several other software companies, like QuoromEx, MGT, Check Point Software, and so on.
All of John’s investments succeeded, and he received a massive return from them. This return on investment significantly impacted his net worth.
Personal Life
John met his first wife, Fran, while studying at Northeast Louisiana State College. Later, they married and got divorced properly in the 80s. After this, John married former flight attendant Judy Chambliss in 1987 and got divorced in 2002.
In December 2012, John met Janice Dyson, began a relationship, and married in 2013. In the same year, the couple moved to Portland, Oregon.
Death
On 5 October 2020, John was arrested in Spain. John was alleged to have earned millions of dollars from 2014 to 2018 without filing any income tax returns. He was jailed in Spain with a pending extradition to the United States.
On 23 June 2021, hours after the Spanish National Court ordered John’s extradition, he was found dead in his prison cell. The Catalan Justice Department reported that he killed himself by hanging.
FAQs
How rich is John McAfee?
John McAfee left 4 million U.S. dollars before his death.
How much was McAfee worth at his peak?
John McAfee’s highest net worth was estimated at $100 million in 1994.
What happened to John McAfee?
John McAfee killed himself by hanging in his prison cell.
What is John McAfee famous for?
John McAfee is famous for programming anti-virus software for computers.
Final Thoughts
John McAfee net worth taught us that nothing goes with you in the grave. He applied his top programming skills to achieve a lavish financial status.
