No problem, Robert. I say this without any intent of boasting, because it's actually nearly immaterial to me, but I personally know some developers who had net worths of at least as much as Mr. McAfee at some point in the last 7 years, and who are now BK. In fact, I'm not stretching the truth to say that I personally know (not know of, but know) at least 5 individuals who each had a net worth of at least 40 million sometime between 2002 and 2006, who are all now deeply in debt (i.e. negative net worth, aka insolvent).
Hmm.....Call me insensitive, but I just cannot muster up any tears for these fabulously wealthy people who have lost most or all of it. Is something wrong with me?? I'll keep trying to cry, but.....
I'm only sensitive to the degree that individuals like Mr. McAfee have to fend for themselves, and live and die by their own decisions/stupidity/greed/arrogance/'insert your own adjective', while others, precisely like those who still work at firms like AIG, Bank of America, Goldman (yes, even at Goldman there were morons who lost money, and the government bailed Goldman out with direct TARP funding and the back-door AIG bailout), are raking in piles of money still, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer, and the U.S. taxpayer alone - as in, they'd be gone, vaporized, unnecessary, redundant, or worse yet, scorned, if that U.S. taxpayer lifeline didn't distort markets and keep their firms and their jobs (and bonuses) intact.
you just can't let go, make me and all others cry...sob sob sob. GS, MS, ML, UBS, are not single person entities. As such, would you, had you been a trader employed by any of those firms, have left the firm on your own without a single demand the second you got to know that tax payer money was poured into those firms? Would you have been the guy to do the, according to you, ONLY right thing? If not, why do you blame everyone else even though you would have acted in precisely the same way. You still fail to understand how your own country works: What is happening is how actually everyone wants it to be. A country of opportunities, and when you make it to the top you reap great pay, bonuses, perks, and are allowed to shit on the Joe on the street. You are the one who will be provided with free options, if you blow up you come back to the table a year later and try again. Everyone has an equal opportunity to become a star banker or trader. And because nobody wants to destroy such opportunistic society nobody is going to do anything about it, no matter how much you fart and cry and no matter how the press and some mad politicians want it look like. If you dont like it stop paying taxes and get jailed or leave the country and never come back. But stop wining around like a small girl.
Why would you want to become a star banker. Over here in europe social status is Gabage man Prostitute Banker
IMHO McAfee's software is crap and a resource hog. 4 million huh? Poor guy. Maybe the software will evaporate too.
Highly doubt he went from 100mm to 4mm unless his assets were incorrectly valued (mtm) in the first place. The best anti-virus and anti-spyware is free.
If he still has to sell a lot of property, amongst others his New Mexican property, how can he be sure he is still worth 4 million. In such a situation his net equity could as easily be 4 million negative as that same amount positive.