British-born U.S. technology entrepreneur John McAfee died by suicide in a Barcelona prison on Wednesday after the Spanish high court approved his extradition to the United States on charges of tax evasion, says Reuters.
McAfee’s lawyer, Javier Villalba, said the anti-virus software mogul died by hanging after his nine months in prison plunged him into deep despair.
McAfee spent years on the run from U.S. authorities, partly aboard a mega-yacht. He was charged with tax evasion in Tennessee and also charged in a cryptocurrency fraud case in New York.
The notorious tech founder was arrested at Barcelona airport on October 3 as he tried to board a flight to Istanbul using his British passport.
McAfee worked for NASA, Xerox and Lockheed Martin before launching the world’s first commercial antivirus in 1987.
Intel took over his company in 2011 and McAfee was no longer involved in the business. The program still bears his name and has 500 million users worldwide.
McAfee once stated that he had paid no income tax in the United States for eight years for ideological reasons. He left the United States to escape trial and lived mostly on a mega-yacht with his wife, four large dogs, two security guards and seven employees.
For more information, read the original story in Reuters.
