McAfee Mistakes – Should We Pity Him Or Did He Deserve What Happened?

It truly is sad how money and power can go to one’s head – but even worse when this irrational behaviour is attached to the integrity of their brand. This is precisely what has happened to John McAfee; the founder of McAfee Software.

Brains and the mighty power of knowing how to put together a sellable product for the booming computer industry is what John McAfee originally did in the late 1980’s which permanently attached his name to the software he developed.

His software began like all others, slowly gaining the spot light in the world of security linked to computers. As time went on, investments in houses, cars and toys soon riddled the life of John McAfee. With a hundred million dollars to spend, it seemed like John was doing what John wanted to do.

Instead of investing in developing stronger, better and more viable computer virus software solutions for his customers, John McAfee lived a playboy lifestyle; riddled with claims of drug abuse, money laundering and even sexual relationships with underage women in Belize.

Is that responsible behaviour? We’ll answer that with an emphatic NO.

McAfee comes from the generation where saving money should have been instilled as a young child. Putting pennies away in a piggy bank and even in a bank as teens got older. The lack of understanding of what his success meant also shows McAfee was living in surrealism.

Everyone has to have an outlet for their energies; those who are responsible in life tend to use exercise, outdoor activities and music. The way John McAfee leans to erratic music and yoga suggests a child deprived of attention. John McAfee puts on a show everywhere he goes, always wanting to be in the lime light.

Most mega millionaires have common sense when it comes to spending their earnings. Most set up foundations, others create college funds for aspiring technology students. Still others give to charitable organizations. John McAfee seemed below this level in giving back to society. A concept even practiced in full swing today by his competitors.

In short, the type of behaviour that McAfee has displayed over the years and culminating with his arrest in Belize under suspicion of manufacturing illegal drugs for distribution must make one question the integrity of his computer software brand.

Irrational behaviour and decision making is not an overnight problem. It is often linked to certain behaviour-based issues that people have from an early age. But the industry he built relies on total trust of consumers who rely on those products keeping them safe from computer virus and online attacks.

If John McAfee displays this lack of critical thinking and good decision making today, one must believe these same attributes have been apparent in the past – or even still exist in the McAfee Antivirus which ‘proudly’ displays his name today.