--- title: Software Magnate John McAfee Is Running for President description: Anti-virus software maker John McAfee is running for President, he confirmed on Tuesday. canonical: https://time.com/4025991/john-mcafee-running-for-president/ author: Jack Linshi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-09T01:07:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:48.666Z article:section: Politics og:title: Anti-Virus Software Maker John McAfee Is Running for President og:description: He created his own party called the Cyber Party og:url: https://time.com/4025991/john-mcafee-running-for-president/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta30b2e036004ea31/698862aacd1bbaee906fd128/john-mcafee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: John McAfee og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Anti-Virus Software Maker John McAfee Is Running for President twitter:description: He created his own party called the Cyber Party twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta30b2e036004ea31/698862aacd1bbaee906fd128/john-mcafee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Anti-Virus Software Maker John McAfee Is Running for President > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=78a83335-4bf0-4316-8225-f1b125666366&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Person of the Year 2013 Shortlist: Edward Snowden [Watch (HLS stream): Person of the Year 2013 Shortlist: Edward Snowden](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/cxBatp7g.m3u8) (2:26)  _Published 2013-12-11. TIME's Michael Scherer explains why NSA leaker Edward Snowden is on the short list for the 2013 TIME Person of the Year._  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Sep 9, 2015 1:07 AM UTC  Antivirus pioneer John McAfee poses for a photograph in Montreal on Aug. 24, 2013. Antivirus pioneer John McAfee poses for a photograph in Montreal on Aug. 24, 2013. Graham Hughes—AP  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Sep 9, 2015 1:07 AM UTC Anti-virus software tycoon John McAfee plans to run for President, the developer confirmed on Tuesday. He will run under his own newly created “Cyber Party.” McAfee, who teased the [official announcement](https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/641389355337162752) on his Twitter, said he decided to run after encouragement from “almost everyone” he knew, [CNNMoney reports](http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/08/news/john-mcafee-for-president/index.html?sr=fbmoney090815mcafee730story). The self-described “eccentric millionaire,” known for [a strange run-in with authorities in Belize](http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/12/3760192/john-mcafee-run-from-the-law) three years ago, said his primary motivation to enter the race was the government’s problems with security and surveillance. “We are losing privacy at an alarming rate — we have none left. We’ve given up so much for the illusion of security and our government is simply dysfunctional,” he said, adding that he plans to release an explainer for his new Cyber Party. “I have a huge underground following on the web,” he said. “I promise you I will win because I have the votes.” McAfee said he made his presidential bid official by filing the required documents with the Federal Elections Commission, though the agency could not confirm the software developer had filed necessary paperwork. \[[CNN](http://money.cnn.com/2015/09/08/news/john-mcafee-for-president/index.html?sr=fbmoney090815mcafee730story)\] ## Transcript [00:04] >>Edward Snowden made TIME's shortlist for 'Person of [00:06] the Year' this year. In late spring and early summer I once [00:10] known a contractor for Booz Allen Hamilton, who was [00:13] working for the National Security Agency began contacting [00:16] reporters around the world saying he wanted to give them [00:19] information. He basically took, as one person told me, one [00:23] of everything. From the deepest, darkest safe house [00:27] within the NSA describing almost everything they are doing [00:31] around the world to collect information both on regular [00:34] citizens and on traditional surveillance targets. The [00:39] effects of these disclosures have really been earth shaking [00:43] both domestically and around the world. In the U. S. [00:47] there's Congressional Reform efforts President Obama has [00:49] come up saying he wants to pursue reforms, there's [00:52] resolutions with the United Nations that could actually [00:55] change the way the world talks about privacy as a human [00:58] right. And then there are a number of diplomatic crisis that [01:02] have started as a result of this. The sense of the allies of [01:05] the United States very upset about the surveillance that's [01:08] been disclosed. And finally there's a real fear among U. S. [01:12] technology created that foreign customers will not trust [01:14] them now both because there are working relationships [01:18] between the NSA and these companies. But also because [01:21] the Snowden disclosures revealed that the NSA was also [01:24] hacking into these technology companies without their [01:27] knowledge. Snowden was 29 years [01:31] old when he leaked this information. He has since turned [01:33] 30, he's living now in Moscow on a one year asylum [01:37] grant from the Russian government. He is someone who [01:40] has thought very deeply about what he did. He thought [01:43] very strategically about the information he leaked, and he [01:46] has a cogent argument which has been spreading. And, [01:50] for that reason I think that the mark that Snowden will leave [01:53] on the world is that he is the person who has really [01:56] introduced in a popular sense the notion that this [02:01] brave new world of internet communication which gives us [02:04] so much wonderful things can have a dark side. [02:06] >>This is about a trend in the relationship between [02:10] the governing and the governed. [02:12] >>And there is a requirement among democratic states to [02:16] think about the issues that arise here and figure out what [02:20] rules and regulations they want to put in play. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4025991/john-mcafee-running-for-president/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4025991/john-mcafee-running-for-president/"},"headline":"Anti-Virus Software Maker John McAfee Is Running for President","datePublished":"2015-09-09T01:07:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:41:48.666Z","description":"His candidacy will focus on privacy rights","url":"https://time.com/4025991/john-mcafee-running-for-president/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta30b2e036004ea31/698862aacd1bbaee906fd128/john-mcafee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta30b2e036004ea31/698862aacd1bbaee906fd128/john-mcafee.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John McAfee","caption":"John McAfee","creditText":"Graham Hughes—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4025991/john-mcafee-running-for-president/","name":"Anti-Virus Software Maker John McAfee Is Running for President"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Person of the Year 2013 Shortlist: Edward Snowden","description":"TIME's Michael Scherer explains why NSA leaker Edward Snowden is on the short list for the 2013 TIME Person of the Year.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/cxBatp7g/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-12-11T12:42:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/cxBatp7g.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4025991/john-mcafee-running-for-president/","duration":"PT2M26S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4025991/john-mcafee-running-for-president/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```