167 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
167 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
---
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created_at: '2011-08-28T14:41:53.000Z'
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title: Antivirus Software Pioneer John McAfee Loses Fortune (2009)
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url: http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=8462247&singlePage=true
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author: a5seo
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points: 140
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story_text: ''
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comment_text:
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num_comments: 58
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story_id:
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story_title:
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story_url:
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parent_id:
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created_at_i: 1314542513
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_tags:
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- story
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- author_a5seo
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- story_2933994
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objectID: '2933994'
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year: 2009
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---
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John McAfee knows about risk. A mathematician by training, in the late
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1980s he developed the antivirus computer software program that has
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become a household name. In the 1990s he pioneered instant-messaging. In
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both cases, he grew bored and cashed out. At his peak, he was reportedly
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worth about $100 million.
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"I don't know and that's the honest truth, eventually you have so many
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resources that a tiny fluctuation in the market can make you worth ten
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million dollars more in the morning and ten million dollars less in the
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evening," he explained of his ever-changing net worth.
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Like many [wealthy
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Americans](http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=5825220&page=1),
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McAfee was hit hard with the simultaneous collapse of real estate,
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stocks and [Wall
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Street](http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=7785304&page=1)
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investment banks. But he got whacked more than most, since much of his
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fortune was tied up in [luxury
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properties](http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=7844681&page=1).
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![Everything Must
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Go](https://s.abcnews.com/images/Nightline/abc_ntl_sales_090901_ms.jpg)
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Play
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"Oddly enough, when real estate markets crash, it's the higher end
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properties that crash the most ... simply because they're not
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necessities," he said. "My father always said, 'Real estate, you can't
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lose in real estate' ... you know, oddly enough you can."
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"Oddly enough, when real estate markets crash, it's the higher end
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properties that crash the most ... simply because they're not
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necessities," he said. "My father always said, 'Real estate, you can't
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lose in real estate' ... you know, oddly enough you can."
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Last Saturday, auctioneers worked up bids for his 80-acre retreat in the
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high desert of Rodeo, N.M. With a private airstrip and hangar, it's a
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slice of paradise, and it's all up for grabs.
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"Everything that you see, from the real estate, the house, the
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automobiles, artwork, furniture, the entire ball of wax," McAfee told
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ABC News.
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Raising the stakes for McAfee, it's an absolute
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[auction](http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=7670690&page=1):
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The highest bid wins, no matter how low it is. "It means if only one
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person shows up and they bid fifty cents, that's the amount of money I
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get," he said.
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McAfee's net worth dropped from within the ballpark of $100 million to
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less than $10 million, he told ABC News. But instead of feeling a sense
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of loss, he says he feels free.
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"I feel a sense of freedom," he said. "People think that it's a joy to
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own things. But it really isn't."
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McAfee has sold his private twin-engine plane, beachfront property in
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Hawaii and a Colorado mansion in the shadow of Pike's Peak. His posh New
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Mexico getaway is the last property to hit the auction block.
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"At one point, I had five houses in five different locations and it's
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impractical, it's almost insane to have that much real estate," he
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conceded. "You can only be in one place at a time."
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## McAfee: 'We Are the Ultimate Consumer Society'
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McAfee admits that he got caught up in the culture of consumption.
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"We are the ultimate consumer society," he said. "If you succeed within
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that culture, then you're simply more bonded to it. You feel like, 'Yes,
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I've got all this money, the ability to get things' ... and so you just
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do it. People buy yachts, they buy jets, they buy multiple homes."
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McAfee himself indulged his whims and passions, spending millions to
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promote the sport of aero-trekking: tiny motorized kites that
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enthusiasts fly to explore the remotest corners of the country.
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He built an aero-trekking playground in the Rodeo desert, which was
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auctioned off for $405,000 -- along with the vintage airstream trailers
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where his aero-trekking friends, known as "the sky gypsies," would stay,
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as well as his own customized camper, once owned by Howard Hughes.
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#### Super-Rich Rapidly Downsize
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In this recession, Jim Gall, McAfee's auctioneer say that even the rich
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have been rapidly downsizing, selling off the luxury items they
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accumulated in better times.
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"We've had corporate aircraft, we've had yachts, we've had fancy cars,
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Ferraris, we've had lots of jewelry. We've had lots of people saying,
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'These are toys that I can live without,'" said Gall, chairman of the
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Auction Company of America.
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McAfee says he expects no sympathy. "Oh, God, I hope they don't have
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sympathy. I don't have sympathy for my position," he said. "I'm
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perfectly happy."
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In fact, he believes that to a certain extent, the recession has served
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a useful purpose: "It's brought home a dose of reality," he said. "And
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sometimes a little pain is necessary to see and understand the true
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circumstances of your life."
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## McAfee's Outlook on Money Forever Changed
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In McAfee's case, his Rodeo paradise -- on which he's spent millions --
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drew only a few modest bids. The home, which included the airstrip and
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hangar, sold for $525,000 to a couple from the Washington, D.C.,
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suburbs.
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"It's a little less than what I paid for the landscaping," he said.
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"Somebody got a great deal."
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McAfee's entire estate -- including the "sky gypsies" complex, a store,
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furnishings, antique cars, trailers, and a vast collection of art work
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-- was auctioned off for $1.6 million to different buyers. Even after
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seeing his possessions that he acquired over a lifetime sold off in just
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a few hours, McAfee says that he has no regrets.
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"I'm happy to get rid of them \[possessions\]. I have a few pennies in
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my pocket. I don't have stuff to worry about," he said.
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Some of the "stuff" McAfee did not sell -- $2 million worth -- he says
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he gave away to residents of Hidalgo County in southwestern New Mexico.
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"I took a hangar and filled it with classic automobiles and art and
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furniture and put up notices up all over the county and people came and
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took what they wanted," he said.
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McAfee plans to take his remaining handful of millions and head to
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Central America, where he's started a new venture to develop natural
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medicines.
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But for someone who's lost nearly $90 million, McAfee seemed remarkably
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relaxed.
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"I feel freer. I have less responsibility and obligations. And I have
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enough money left to feed myself," he said.
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After 65 years, his attitude about money, he says, is forever changed.
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"I think most people don't sit down and ask, 'What do I need?" not "What
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do I want?" Because we all want everything," he explained. "But what do
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we need? We don't need very much. We really don't ... The things we want
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and the things we need are two different things."
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