Adding to Netflix’s ever-growing library of true-crime drama is a new documentary based on the life of John McAfee. The highly controversial millionaire who passed away last year is getting a second documentary on his life titled Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee, scheduled for release on August 24.
Unlike other documentaries, this one captures McAfee’s run from the authorities, his run-ins with the Mexican drug cartel and a whole host of other crazy stuff from his life. If the trailer has given us any indications, it seems like we’re in for a ride. But while the trailer looks impressive, we hope Netflix covers these aspects of the former millionaire’s life.
7) He worked at NASA On The Apollo Programme
Before rising to prominence as an IT Moghul, McAfee had humble beginnings just like us (sort of). The former millionaire started his career as a door-to-door magazine salesman in his early days. When things didn’t work out there, he started working at a firm that coded punch-card systems. This is where he got a hang of the basics of computing.
Using this knowledge, in 1968, McAfee took a position at NASA as a programmer to work on the Apollo programme; a job he quit two years later in 1970.
6) “Only” received $100 million out of McAfee Anti Virus
John McAfee left his company in 1994, opting for a quieter life, conducting workshops and giving lectures. More than a decade down the line, the anti-virus company was acquired by Intel for $7.68 billion and was rebranded as “Intel Security” for a while. However, McAfee claims that he received only $100 million out of the deal, which according to him “finishes up pretty quickly.”
5) Lost it all during the 2008 economic collapse
Now with $100 million in his pocket, everyone including McAfee thought he was set for life. But that wasn’t meant to be. According to reports, during the 2008 market crash, McAfee lost around 96 per cent of his wealth. Strangely enough, this is what inspired the creation of Bitcoin, which brings us to our next point.
4) Invested heavily in Crypto
After licking his wound, the millionaire got involved in the world of cryptos, making heavy investments in Bitcoin. During its heyday, McAfee even claimed that Bitcoin will be worth $1,000,000 by 2020. And if not, he promised to “eat his own d!ck.”
3) Became a person of interest in a murder
In the late 2000s, after dabbling in the world of antibiotics, McAfee sold every asset he owned and moved to Belize, a Carribean country, to work with a company called Quorumex. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing from there.
Throughout the years, McAfee became convinced that he was being followed and watched, which made him lose his grip on reality. In 2012, McAfee fled the country after becoming a person of interest in a murder case involving the death of his neighbour, Gregory Faull.
2) Alcohol and drug problems
If you couldn’t guess by the trailer or don’t know anything about John McAfee, you may not be aware that he enjoyed the finer things in life… a little too much. During the latter stage of his life, McAfee began experimenting with hard drugs like DMT, which can cause vivid hallucinations, and paranoia, among other things. Experts argue that this is what led to the former millionaire’s delusion of being followed by an unknown entity.
1) He ran for President, twice!
Perhaps the bizarre and lesser-known fact about McAfee has to be his two presidential bids. After coming back to the US, he tried to run for the White House as a member of the Libertarian political party, in 2016 and 2020. However, both of his bids failed before polling days.
Image credits: Netflix, Wired,
