By: Jane Wells | CNBC Reporter
John McAfee is back in the technology game.
Should he be trusted?
McAfee is living in Portland, Ore., nearly a year after fleeing Belize to avoid questioning about the murder of a neighbor. He still insists he had nothing to do with the gunshot killing. “Belize is the murder capital of the world,” he said this week. “It’s a very violent, very dangerous place.”
Since returning stateside, McAfee has surfaced rarely. Three months ago, he posted a racy video on YouTube mocking his former anti-virus software company. Last week he had to respond to a false report that he had died of an overdose in Las Vegas. McAfee said the hoax was not a publicity stunt on his part, and that he spent a lot of time frantically contacting friends who believed he was dead.
“That’s not a fun thing,” he said. “I mean, I’m a prankster, but that’s hardly a prank.”
Now he’s back in Silicon Valley, taking meetings, speaking at tech events and promoting new ventures.
“When I’m idle,” he told CNBC, “I get in trouble. Even when I’m not idle I sometimes get in trouble.”
The park where his interview took place was near the Ecuadorean Consulate, where McAfee had spent the morning. He said he has a place in Ecuador and might want to visit, but not stay.
“I’m not going back to the jungle,” he said. “I enjoyed it for a while. I think cities are more my thing now.”
This weekend, McAfee will speak at C2SV, a tech and music event in Silicon Valley. It will be his first professional event of that nature since returning to the U.S., and McAfee plans to unveil a new type of communication technology product he’s developing. The only hint he would give away ahead of time is that the product will be some sort of localized networking platform.
“See these people wandering around the park here? If they were all connected in a way where within 50 feet, 100 feet … you could all be communicating, and as you walked, your friend set would constantly change,” he said.
October 24, 2013 at 9:06 am
I would love to work for this man. I believe the future is held by people of his nature .
September 24, 2013 at 9:00 pm
He actually looks like Al Pacino. Could be a brilliant film.
September 21, 2013 at 7:08 am
Hi John,good interview, i hope it will all happen, you want.Greetings from gisla
September 20, 2013 at 10:08 pm
You definately recognize the quagmire….I hope that you penetrate it.
September 20, 2013 at 8:50 pm
Belize is the murder capitol of the world? I guess John McAfee is hoping people will believe him and not bother checking. I did. Belize does not even make it into the top 75 countries in the world for murder rates.
September 21, 2013 at 9:13 pm
Ummmm? Looks like you’re source steered you in the wrong direction.
Belize ranked #6 World wide in 2012. What that means is that there were 41.4 intentional homicides per 100,000 people. With any luck, this year will be better for them, because while they started 2013 with numbers worse than 2012, the last few months have seen a decline in murders.
Central America boasts the top 20 most dangerous cities according to one report.
And just to give you one more tid-bit to digest, the USA has a rate of 4.8 intentional homicides per 100K.
John may have stretched it by moving Belize up a few spots to number 1, but your comment is nothing more than uneducated nonsense.
September 24, 2013 at 3:49 am
What WEB said… That statistic is calculated on a per capita basis. Statistics are math and math doesn’t lie. That’s the nice thing about it (math). It doesn’t need to make a profit off of tourists and ex-pats, it just is.
As with many tourist based economies, there are two countries. The one they make all purdy for the foreigners and the one that the people actually live in. John did something most people who retire to Belize don’t have the balls to do, he actually lived there.
I would invest in anything John came up with because he is a visionary. Investors care about their investment. John being eccentric has not yet proven to be a liability. McAfee anti-virus still has the market share even though people claim to not like it.
I’m excited that he is “back in the game”. I predict a wild ride ahead so keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle. No wait, throw your arms up and shout Woooohoooo!!!!!