Security News > 2021 > June > Antivirus Pioneer John McAfee Found Dead in Spanish Prison
John McAfee, the creator of McAfee antivirus software, was found dead in his jail cell near Barcelona in an apparent suicide Wednesday, hours after a Spanish court approved his extradition to the United States to face tax charges punishable by decades in prison, authorities said.
Born in England's Gloucestershire in 1945 as John David McAfee, he started McAfee Associates in 1987 and led an eccentric life after selling his stake in the antivirus software company named after him in the early 1990s.
McAfee told Wired Magazine in 2012 that his father, a heavy drinker and "Very unhappy man," shot himself when McAfee was 15.
In one of his last known media interviews, with British newspaper The Independent last November, McAfee said his prison experience in Spain was a "Fascinating adventure" and he planned never to return to the U.S. "I am constantly amused and sometimes moved," he was quoted as saying.
McAfee said his main point of contact outside the prison was his wife, Janice McAfee.
Jaime Le, a McAfee company spokesperson, said in a statement: "Although John McAfee founded the company, he has not been associated with our company in any capacity for over 25 years. That said, our thoughts go to his family and those close to him."