Getty John McAfee, founder of the eponymous anti-virus company, speaks to journalists at the China Internet Security Conference in Beijing on August 16, 2016.
John McAfee, founder of McAfee Associates and a former presidential candidate, was found dead in his prison cell in Spain on June 23, 2021, while facing extradition to the United States. He once estimated that he had more than 40 children. He also had three stepchildren.
He Once Estimated He Had 47 Children, But Said It Was His ‘Best Guess’
In a Twitter thread in 2020, McAfee estimated that he had about 47 children, but said that this number would likely have been lower if DNA testing had been available when he was younger.
In an interview with The Sun, he said that he had 47 children between the ages of 16 and 47. He claimed in the interview that he took care of all of them financially and kept in touch with all of them.
“It’s very difficult to keep track of. Almost all of them were illegitimate,” he said. “… I keep in touch with every one… I take care of all of them financially.”
However, on Twitter, he indicated differently, saying that the “47” number was simply his best guess. In a series of tweets in January 2020, he indicated that he had never met any of his great-grandchildren, and he referred to his children as “lazy.” However, it wasn’t clear if he was referring to symbolic children at that point rather than actual children, since he seemed to switch back and forth in his tweets between the two topics.
Since you asked:
I have 47 children.
61 grand children
19 great-grand children
I have met none of my great-grand children.
He wrote: “I’m not here to give you solutions; For anything. That’s for you young folks of mine to do: My lazy children, grand children and great-grand children. Yes. I have great-grand children. I’m here to point to the reality around you. Which you children are so fond of ignoring. … Since you asked: I have 47 children. 61 grand children 19 great-grand children I have met none of my great-grand children.”
He added that the exact count might have been lower if DNA testing was available.
These numbers might have been much smaller,
Had DNA testing been around while I was growing up.
No interest at this point.
To me,
Legacy has nothing to do with blood
And everything to do with the understanding –
That every child who crosses your path,
Is your child.
“These numbers might have been much smaller, Had DNA testing been around while I was growing up. No interest at this point. To me, Legacy has nothing to do with blood
And everything to do with the understanding – That every child who crosses your path, Is your child.”
He wrote in answer to another comment that this was not an exact count of his children but a “best guess.”
@Algorithmdotcom Unfortunately, not exact.
Best guess.
He reiterated in another tweet that this was “a best guess given the information that I have.”
@_JonnyLawrence Frankly …. it’s a best guess given the information that I have
He added that two of his children were in Australia.
In answer to another person, he said there were 41 women who fathered his children.
But then he later said he was married five times.
@GeorgeSmits Only married 5 times.
He Had 3 Stepchildren
.@officialmcafee & I met 8yrs ago today. It feels like we’ve lived a dozen lifetimes since then. I don’t recognize the girl I was when first we met but I love the woman I’m becoming. John’s imprisonment is the longest we’ve been apart but I’ll continue to fight for his freedom.❤
John McAfee also had three stepchildren when he died. His wife, Janice McAfee, had three children of her own.
Janice McAfee told The Sun that she has three children ages 14, 15, and 17.
During the interview, John McAfee said about the children: “We’re taking good care of them and they’re being watched by my people.”
John and Janice McAfee were married in 2013, after meeting in 2012 when he hired her as a sex worker, ABC News reported. She was almost 40 years younger than him.
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