Conspiracy Theory John McAfee did not kill himself

[dustysnecktattoo]

Some sources say 1994 (when he stepped down as CEO), some say 1997. No indication he had any ownership beyond the mid-late 90s though. So almost certainly never a billionaire, let alone paid billions in tax.

John McAfee Dies: Eccentric Entrepreneur, Security Software Inventor And Cryptocurrency Pioneer Was 75

John McAfee Dies: Eccentric Entrepreneur, Security Software Inventor And Cryptocurrency Pioneer Was 75

deadline.com

Says it like he still owned it up until 2010 when intel bought it for billions

 

[dustysnecktattoo]

pre opening that article it says 2010 but after opening it says 2011

“A billionaire after selling his self-named antivirus software company for $7.68 billion in 2011 to Intel (which quickly moved to disassociate itself with him, even though he had stopped being active in 1994), McAfee was viewed as something of an oracle in the tech world.”

 

[BlueE]

pre opening that article it says 2010 but after opening it says 2011

“A billionaire after selling his self-named antivirus software company for $7.68 billion in 2011 to Intel (which quickly moved to disassociate itself with him, even though he had stopped being active in 1994), McAfee was viewed as something of an oracle in the tech world.”

I was given the "No Domain" McAfee book based on tapes recorded with the author for Christmas, (although it arrived sometime after).

He certainly was an "Oracle", self confessed lazy, huge partaker of huge quantities of multiple drugs, inability to remain faithful, but with a huge capacity to learn and adapt, and during this time was able to complete high quality, innovative work by turning up a few hours a week, enabling him to live this lifestyle for many years.

While he made lots of money he never made billions until he became an expert in computer virus protection and started his own company. By this time he was sober and didn't touch drugs for 20 years.

I went from a job at Omex to Lockheed Martin and at Lockheed I did exactly the same thing as I ever did, with the notable exception being that I was in the midst of attending daily AA meetings. But again, my reputation was so good, my design ethic strong and my code so tight that I got away with it. No one bothered me. I told them I'd be working from home before I even took the job.

While I was at Lockheed, becasue I was bored working from home I started a whole bunch of business of my own, one of them called Voice Command, which was the first off the shelf voice recognition product. I ended up selling to Interstate Voice Products for $800,000, which was a lot of money in 1984. That was my first entrepreneurial product in computers that made me significant money.

Q What was the progression into forming McAfee from Lockheed?

"Well, as I told you, it was during this period at Lockheed where i got pulled to the side to work on the C I A Black program. The Black program itself was unremarkable, but just like anyone else who has worked on one, I was told of the dire consequences I'd face if I ever discussed it. It took many years until the results of the work I did became useful.

Beyond that, the lines between Lockheed and my starting McAfee were extremely blurred becasue as usual I was working from home."

Remember he first heard about a computer virus in 1986 and "designed a little program that could remove it and in effect, kill it and repair the damage with the help of a programing friend of mine named Dennis Yale."

Talks about Yale, his first employee, other viruses and hackers and moving out of a corner of his living room into own premises in 1987 which was the beginning of McAfee as a formal company.

Q How much advantage did being clean and sober give you?

I couldn't have done it if I wasn't clean and sober. Not only that, it gave me a real advantage when it came to doing deals with people in the Valley. Having spent years drinking and taking drugs myself, I knew what people's habits were. When I was selling my own white-label products in parallel with running McAfee I was meeting people all the time. If it was truly an important meeting, I'd insist the only time I was available was 7 pm Friday evening. I suggested this time because I knew that everybody would be downtown drinking at the very least and probably running to the bathroom to snort cocaine. Meanwhile I was totally f ucking sober and totally clean.

When these people started talking business up front, I'd say "Please, its been a long week. Can we just enjoy our dinner and talk business after?" I knew they weren't drunk enough up front. But by the time we'd had dinner and they'd had nine drinks and been to the bathroom three times to snort coke I was ready to talk business. Suddenly I owned the table and I cold manipulate people and their decisions.

 

[faible]

John McAfee Dies: Eccentric Entrepreneur, Security Software Inventor And Cryptocurrency Pioneer Was 75

John McAfee Dies: Eccentric Entrepreneur, Security Software Inventor And Cryptocurrency Pioneer Was 75

deadline.com

Says it like he still owned it up until 2010 when intel bought it for billions

This is one of the very few sources that explicitly claim he still owned McAfee when it was sold.

 

[BlueE]

This is one of the very few sources that explicitly claim he still owned McAfee when it was sold.

According to his tapes, he still owned it but walked away. He had billions, but a lifestyle including chartering yachts for $400,000 a trip, garages full of cars, multitudes of houses and he said sometimes he'd spend $1 million a week. Despite a divorce from wife of over 20 years, he says there was 100million in the bank and three times that being invested for him (and stashes of buried money he accessed, when he went back to the US). Later years in Spain before his arrest he deeply involved in crypto currency.

Q: So why did you leave McAfee in the end? When did you cash out?

McAfee: "I never cashed out. I just walked away. There's a difference."

Q. Yes, but surely you made money?

McAfee: I made money in lots of ways, not least when the company went public in 1992. I got paid upfront for that and there was lots of it. After we went public, I owned the majority of stock."

Q: The company went public in 1992, two years before you officially left, is that right? You eventually orchestrated an exit a year or so later?