FIRE gone horribly wrong....

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Meadbh

Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Jul 22, 2006
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Best commencement speech I have ever heard & with five children and three spouses between us I have been to many graduations . It's too bad his life went astray.
 
Innocent until proven guilty. But sure seems like a life gone bad at this point :(
 
Wow, what a story! And people wonder how that much money can be spent - look how easily!
 
If John McAfee had held onto his shares until the 2010 $7.7 billion Intel acquisition, his stake would have made him a multi-billionaire.

Looks like a buy and hold strategy(and continued working) would have paid off more ways than one. Would have become a mult-billionaire and kept him out of a rough crowd.
 
Dawg52 said:
If John McAfee had held onto his shares until the 2010 $7.7 billion Intel acquisition, his stake would have made him a multi-billionaire.

Looks like a buy and hold strategy(and continued working) would have paid off more ways than one. Would have become a mult-billionaire and kept him out of a rough crowd.
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I think that part doesn't matter. $100 million back in 1994 was more then anyone needed to be flush for the rest of their life - $4M a year anyone? So it was a perfectly fine time to pull the plug, esp. given his work ethic.

But when you start building $25M estates in Colorado, well....... At that point he was living like a multi-billionaire already.
 
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Meadbh said:
John McAfee, of antivirus software fame, has been arrested for murder in Belize, where he has been living for years. Apparently he "got in with the wrong crowd" and is into drugs, prostitution and crime.
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His choices in spending and investments do seem to have been poor.

But as far as criminal activities are concerned, so far there seem to be only allegations, no established facts: "he is the prime suspect in the murder of a fellow expat named Gregory Faull." and "He attempted to launch a new age pharmaceutical company but at some point local police began to suspect that the former dotcom king was actually manufacturing methamphetamine and an ultra potent strand of bath salts."

I've googled a bit about Belize and corruption. Foreign investors often seem to get ripped off and have to pay bribes to officials. There's always the chance that he was starting a legitimate company and is a victim of a corrupt system. It's far from certain that he will get a fair trial if he's apprehended.

EDIT: a pretty nasty Daily Mail article about him mentions "It began, innocently enough, with my refusal to donate to the local political boss of the district where I lived in Orange Walk and I have given at least $2million in gifts to the police departments in Orange Walk, San Pedro, Belize City."
Whether it's true that he's a victim of corrupt authorities is hard to know. But it could be.
 
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Tigger said:
I've googled a bit about Belize and corruption. Foreign investors often seem to get ripped off and have to pay bribes to officials. There's always the chance that he was starting a legitimate company and is a victim of a corrupt system. It's far from certain that he will get a fair trial if he's apprehended.
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Lots of US retirees (and others) consider moving to other countries for lower costs, a different social/political environment, etc. Part of this planning should be a consideration of crime and corruption factors. Citizens of the US and other developed Western countries often lack an understanding of how profound these problems can be.
 
samclem said:
Part of this planning should be a consideration of crime and corruption factors. Citizens of the US and other developed Western countries often lack an understanding of how profound these problems can be.
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I agree. This is why I'm not inclined to follow certain friends who are dreaming of FIRE-ing in Thailand.
 
Meadbh said:
drugs, prostitution and crime.
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See, if he'd stuck with a more conventional FIRE lifestyle centered around shuffle board, bridge and golf, he wouldn't be going though all this hassle now.
 
I got to know him a few years ago when I represented him in a lawsuit. Of course, I can't tell you anything confidential, but the dude has some great stories. He's a pretty perfect example of what too much money, too much free time and too few inhibitions can do to a person. But he was a very interesting, and very bright, guy.

A rumor floating around the internet way back when was that some sort of super computer virus was coming that would destroy the technological world as we knew it. John announced he had anti-virus software that could defeat it. Part of the internet rumor was that he created the virus itself.

Another interesting rumor that I can neither confirm nor deny was that employees had a little game going where they got "points" for having sex in certain places in the office. The highest points were his desk.

The guy was a true child of the 60's!
 
And no one sued him for this?
67walkon said:
Another interesting rumor that I can neither confirm nor deny was that employees had a little game going where they got "points" for having sex in certain places in the office. The highest points were his desk.
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67walkon said:
I got to know him a few years ago when I represented him in a lawsuit. Of course, I can't tell you anything confidential, but the dude has some great stories. He's a pretty perfect example of what too much money, too much free time and too few inhibitions can do to a person. But he was a very interesting, and very bright, guy.

A rumor floating around the internet way back when was that some sort of super computer virus was coming that would destroy the technological world as we knew it. John announced he had anti-virus software that could defeat it. Part of the internet rumor was that he created the virus itself.

Another interesting rumor that I can neither confirm nor deny was that employees had a little game going where they got "points" for having sex in certain places in the office. The highest points were his desk.

The guy was a true child of the 60's!
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Interesting that this is your idea of what an attorney should disclose on the internet about a former client, especially one who is currently experiencing trouble.

Ha
 
Well, I hear he he made his money in some sort of antivirus business. Sounds like he probably used a gallon of the stuff each workday to get his desk sanitized.
 
Another episode of "Trial by Media"?
Tech guru John McAfee told ABC News in his first broadcast interview that he did not kill his neighbor Gregory Faull, and is now in hiding, fearful of what he calls a "corrupt government" in Belize that he believes is trying to kill him.
"I am a very nice guy and certainly innocent of the charges leveled against me," McAfee told ABC News by phone on Wednesday.
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Belize Murder: John McAfee Tells ABC News He Is Innocent and Fearful of a 'Corrupt Government' - ABC News
 
samclem said:
Well, I hear he he made his money in some sort of antivirus business. Sounds like he probably used a gallon of the stuff each workday to get his desk sanitized.
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:LOL: If I were him, I would assume alot of points had been awarded and pour the anti virus on the desk thick....:D
 
If any one of us had a 100 million in 1994, I think we all would be quite content. It always amazes me how folks who get a windfall (lottery winners, athletes, movie stars, etc) blow through awesome fortunes and then wonder what happened.

I'm not too sympathetic to the guy. He brought it on himself.
 
Apparently he's 67 and has a 17 year old live in girlfriend. Teenies are legal in Belize.
 
The guy reminds me of a more decadent version of Richard Branson.
 
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