John David McAfee (1945) is an English-American computer programmer and businessman. He founded the software company McAfee Associates in 1987 and ran it until 1994, when he resigned from the company.
McAfee Associates achieved early success as the creator of McAfee's first commercial antivirus software, and the business now produces a range of enterprise security software.
The company was purchased by Intel in 2011, though it still bears the McAfee brand name. McAfee's wealth peaked in 2007 at $100 million, before his investments plummeted in the financial crisis of 2007-2008.
Since leaving McAfee Associates, he has founded the companies Tribal Voice (makers of the PowWow chat program), QuorumEx and Future Tense Central, among others, and has been involved in leadership positions in the companies Everykey, MGT Capital Investments and Luxcore, among others.
His personal and business interests include smartphone apps, cryptocurrency, yoga, and herbal antibiotics. He resided for a number of years in Belize, but returned to the United States in 2013.
McAfee is also a political activist. He unsuccessfully sought the Libertarian Party nomination for President of the United States in 2016 and 2020.
On October 6, 2020, McAfee was arrested in Spain over tax evasion charges. The charges were announced shortly after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that it had brought civil charges against McAfee and that he could face 30 years in prison if convicted.