John McAfee: US presidential bid for anti-virus mogul Published duration 9 September 2015 Related Topics US election 2016

image copyright Reuters image caption Mr McAfee founded an anti-virus company of the same name in 1987

Maverick tech veteran John McAfee has confirmed he is running for US president.

Mr McAfee, who founded an anti-virus company of the same name, filed a candidacy statement on Tuesday.

The US entrepreneur, 69, attracted international attention when he went on the run in 2012 following the murder of his neighbour in Belize.

He has launched a campaign website and will share more details about his candidacy later.

"I live in a country that has passed so many laws, that, at an average reading speed, would take me 600 years to read, reading 24 hours a day," Mr McAfee told the BBC.

"I am protected by a government that invades my privacy so that it can assure me that I am not the enemy it is protecting me from.

"I live in a country that is governed by people largely illiterate in cybersecurity - as proven by the multiple government computer hacks.

"Yet cyber-warfare is now the means of war. My government is dysfunctional. For the 300 million other Americans - you are in the same boat with me."

Drink and drugs

Mr McAfee found fame when he launched his anti-malware company in 1987, but he resigned from the company in 1994.

Intel later bought the company, in which Mr McAfee no longer held shares, for more than $7.6bn (£4.7bn).

However, it is his private life - including much publicised battles with drink and drugs - that has attracted most attention.

In November 2012, he went on the run in Belize after the murder of his neighbour, Gregory Faull, an Orlando sports bar owner.

Mr McAfee, who was never declared a suspect, said he feared he would be "silenced" if he was caught and thrown in jail.

He eventually crossed the border into Guatemala, where he was arrested and then deported to the US.

At the time, Dean Barrow, Belize's Prime Minister, said Mr McAfee had only been classed a "person of interest".

"I don't want to be unkind to the gentleman, but I believe he is extremely paranoid, even bonkers," the politician added.

image copyright Impact Future Media image caption On his Twitter biography, Mr McAfee describes himself as an "eccentric millionaire"

Mr McAfee's campaign manager confirmed that his party would be known as the "Cyber Party".

On his Twitter feed , Mr McAfee promised to make an official announcement about his run on Wednesday at 23:00 BST.