After inventing anti-virus software, he chose to be a top-notch gangster

1986 year , Pakistan has two brothers who run a computer company , Operating computer and software business . 

Not long after , They found themselves painstakingly writing programs , Often copied by users , Pirate .

The angry brothers created a program to protect their copyright , Once an unauthorized user inserts an infected floppy disk into the drive , A message will appear on their screen ：“ Please note that …… Viruses . Please contact us for vaccination .”

They call this program ： The brain .

The brothers did not realize , They created the first computer virus in human history .

Neither of them will realize , This virus has changed a name John MacAfee（ Mcafee ） The life of an American .

McAfee's life experience , It's more complicated than Hollywood blockbusters , More wonderful .

1

When “ The brain ” When the virus began to spread in the United States , McAfee is working as a programmer at Lockheed Corporation .

He saw “ The brain ” Very scared of viruses , It reminded him of his unhappy childhood .

His father experienced World War II , Got schizophrenia , He is a domestic violence addict , He may be beaten at any time , Without any reason . 

In McAfee 15 At the age of , His father shot himself , The following years , He himself began to drink and take drugs , But learning is declining , Successfully obtained a bachelor's degree in mathematics .

When I was a doctor , He was found to have had an illicit relationship with a female undergraduate student he supervised , Expelled from school .

Later he married this girl , Start working on programming , First in NASA Participated in the Apollo program , stay Univac As a software designer , Later to Xerox As an operating system architect .

But his life was muddled , Often buy drugs , He was fired for taking drugs in the company several times .

Not long after , His wife can't stand to divorce him , McAfee just made up his mind to stop taking drugs , Turn over , New life . 

The emergence of brain virus made McAfee feel scared at the same time , Also saw business opportunities ： Now that there is a computer virus , Why not do anti-virus work ？

He left Lockheed , We developed a program called VirusScan Software for , Can check and kill poison .

Then he showed a series of dazzling divine operations , Successfully marketing the concepts of anti-virus and security .

He bought one Winnebago rv , There is one in it “ poisoning ” Our computer .

Then drive from the west coast to the east coast , Bring a stethoscope to “ poisoning ” Computer consultation , Novel style , It has attracted the attention of a large number of people .

He wrote a Book 《 Computer virus 、 worm 、 Data fraud 、 Program killers and other threats 》, Set up a “ Computer virus Industry Association ”, And serve as chairman , It has established an authoritative position in the industry , Those journalists have any questions about computer viruses , Will find him and ask for his opinion .

When the new virus “ Michelangelo ” When it appears , McAfee realized the opportunity had come .

He vowed to publicize , To 3 month 6 When the No ,“ Michelangelo ” Will destroy the world 500 Wan computer . 

The people who did not know the truth were terrified , They went to buy his anti-virus software .

To 3 month 6 On this day , The number of poisoned computers is only tens of thousands , Angry people accused McAfee of creating panic , But he didn't care , Because software sales skyrocketed , Profits have skyrocketed .

In five years ,McAfee company Controlled nearly 70% Desktop antivirus market .

Half the wealth 100 Strong companies are using his software , And McAfee's annual income is 500 Thousands of dollars .

1993 year , McPhee struck while the iron was hot , Run to NASDAQ and ring the bell , Officially enter the ranks of billionaires . 

It's amazing that , When the company is booming , McAfee quit CEO, Sold all the shares in the company , Cash out 1 Billion dollars .

16 Years later ,Intel With 76.8 $100 million McAfee, I wonder if McAfee will regret selling too early .

2

“ retired ” McAfee went crazy to buy real estate , It seems to be possessed by a devil , These properties are in remote areas , In this way, he can transform himself according to his own wishes . 

In Colorado , He bought 280 acres , To spend 2500 Million dollars to build his estate , And constantly fill the manor with art collections from all over the world .

In Hawaii , It took him seven years to build a 5,800 Square foot Waterfront Estate , It was very difficult to build , All materials must be transported by ship or plane , But he never moved in .

In New Mexico , He bought 157 Acres of land , A low altitude flight school was opened here , As a playground for yourself and other aviation enthusiasts .

According to statistics , McAfee has had more than 12 A manor , In addition to continuous home purchase , Private jet , Luxury yachts are also necessary for McAfee .

McAfee And his 「 Liberty 」 The yacht

Besides buying real estate , He also continued to invest in Lehman Brothers' bonds , here we are 2008 year , financial crisis 、 The collapse of Lehman gave him a heavy blow , His bonds became worthless .

Although he boasted that he had billions of family wealth , actually , All he has left is 400 Thousands of dollars .

McPhee began to sell his plane and property , Colorado 2500 The million dollar property was only sold 570 Thousands of dollars , Hawaiian property listings 150 Thousands of dollars , Even so , There are still very few bidders .

A bigger blow soon came , His nephew , An inexperienced pilot , Take the students of his flying school to fly at very low altitude , The plane crash , McAfee was charged with murder , Went to court , Claim for compensation 500 Thousands of dollars . 

This became the last straw to crush McAfee , He decided to ： Leave America , Open up a new life .

He would never have thought of it himself , Four years later , He will be the prime suspect in a murder case .

3

McAfee's next stop is Belize, a country in central and North America , He was fascinated by the Mayan culture here , I bought a villa on ambergris island .

2010 year 2 month , He bought a large marsh two miles upstream of the Mayan ruins , It took 100 Ten thousand dollars , Built a row of thatched bungalows .

He became the king of this independent kingdom , He founded a cigar manufacturing enterprise , Coffee distribution companies , Water taxi company , Set up a private security team , Equipped them with imported M16、 Boots 、 Pepper spray 、 Stun guns and batons .

He invested in an American microbiologist , Establish pharmaceutical enterprises , Produce new antibiotics .

McAfee is frantically boasting to the international media about such business , He said ： I have conquered the digital epidemic （ Viruses ）, It's time to fight organic infectious diseases ！

But McAfee spent more time on a project called Lover's Bar Bar bum , ad locum , He fell in love with a 16 Year old barmaid , Abandon yourself 12 Wife of . But all the barmaid wanted was his money ：“ Belize millionaire , Who doesn't want to rob him ？”

One night , The barmaid slipped out of bed , Get McAfee's gun , Aim at his head , Pulled the trigger , But at the last moment , She closed her eyes , The bullet deviated , Through the pillow .

McAfee, who escaped the disaster, soon ran into big trouble , His neighbor, fall, was found dead at home , The villagers nearby all think that McAfee is behind the scenes , Because fall was attacked many times by his dog , The dog was poisoned in a fit of anger , McAfee was very angry , use 5000 The dollar hired the killer to kill fall . 

McAfee is wanted by the local police , He tried to escape , In the process of fleeing, I didn't forget to set up a blog , Live his escape .

Be miserable , His pig team friend sent a photo of him during his escape , Original picture ！ It contains GPS Information about ！

Police follow suit , Captured him in Guatemala , But the evidence is insufficient , Deported to the United States .

Fall's daughter is suing in Florida , McAfee was ordered to pay 2500 Ten thousand dollars in damages .

McAfee passed Twitter The response was ： I have no money ！

McAfee's in 11 I have experienced 37 A lawsuit , Ignoring the lawsuit and refusing to pay the resulting judgment compensation has become a model of McAfee , He seemed proud of it , He said “ I refuse to play the legal blackmail game against the American rich class ！”.

4

McAfee back in the United States , I have fixed my eyes on the fat meat of digital currency , Become a cryptocurrency evangelist , Step on the air vent again .

He served as MGT Of CEO, Transform this loss making social game investment company into a focus on network security . But actually MGT Take bitcoin mining business as the main source of income ！

His mouth is open , Constantly forecast bitcoin prices , Said it would be in 2017 Annual rise 10 times 、 Will be in 2018 It rose to 5 Thousands of dollars . It even threatened that bitcoin was 2020 Year up to 100 Thousands of dollars , Or you'll eat your own live xxxx.

He even plans to issue paper money , Printed with banknote paper , Double sided holographic printing . McAfee said , The banknote is connected to the blockchain 、 redeemable 、 convertible 、 Can collect .

One yuan 、 Five yuan 、 Onehundred and fivehundred are photos of themselves or group photos with female partners . Wujihan, founder of bitland 、 Bitcoin cash advocates Roger Ver Others also appear on paper money .

McAfee bought a lot of cheap cryptocurrencies , Then use yourself in Twitter The great influence of the endorsement for these counterfeit coins , As a result, the price of cryptocurrency has risen 50% To 350%, He made tens of millions of dollars at once .

5

McAfee, who keeps dying, is finally targeted by the IRS , The prosecutor accused him of concealing the real estate 、 automobile 、 A lot of property such as yachts , Concealment of income , Tax evasion .

This is a serious crime , Once implemented , Waiting for him will be decades of imprisonment .

McAfee and his wife quickly boarded their yacht , Travel from one port to another in the Caribbean .

In Havana, Cuba , He announced that he would run as a liberal candidate 2020 The presidential election of the United States ！

This is his second presidential election , Mcafee 2016 He also won the nomination of the party in , Later, with 3% The difference between the , Lost to another candidate Johnson (Gary Johnson).

He said 「 This is no ordinary election campaign 」,「 I ran for president , Wanted by the government .」

Who knows, half a year after the announcement , He was arrested by the armed forces of the Dominican Republic while docked on a yacht in port Plata , A number of high caliber weapons and ammunition were seized on board .

But Dominica only held him for four days this time , And set him free . He said triumphantly ： I was treated very well . My supervisor is friendly and helpful ......

2020 year 10 month , McAfee was arrested at Barcelona Airport in Spain , In a Spanish prison .

McAfee accepts the British 《 The independent 》 In an interview with , His prison experience in Spain was “ A fascinating adventure ”, He plans never to return to the United States , It was full of political persecution against him .

He said ：「 The prisoners and guards of the prison recognized me , Some people asked me to sign 」.　　

In fact, he was still afraid of the IRS charges against him , Once returned to China, he could be sentenced to decades in prison .

however , The Spanish court tried , Or decided to extradite him to the United States .

2021 year 6 month 23 Afternoon of , Just a few hours after the verdict ,75 McAfee, aged, was found hanging himself in his cell .

McAfee's legendary life has finally come to an end .

Postscript

A mixture of genius and madness , This is my biggest emotion after writing about McAfee's life experience .

McAfee wrote the world's first commercial anti-virus software , And then, almost on one's own, the computing security market has been built （ Although he used a less than aboveboard means ）, He is definitely a technical genius and a marketing genius .

however , Profligacy 、 Drug use 、 Goof 、 Flicker 、 cheating 、 grandstanding , It was all concentrated on him , Such an experience is astonishing , unimaginable .

Many of McAfee's actions are beyond explanation , It feels like he is constantly switching back and forth between the highest and lowest peaks of his life , Experience exciting life .

Last , Let's end with Stephen Chow's famous saying ： The ups and downs of life , It's so exciting .

（ End ）

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