Even though John was considered a genius for his vast wealth of knowledge, he also led an incredibly troubling life. According to the New York Post, John claimed to have fathered 47 children in his lifetime.

The outlet also states that he was expelled from teaching at his advanced degree program at Northeast Louisiana State College after getting caught having sex with one of his students. Even though she was a student at the time, he later decided to marry her.

Throughout his storied career, he was an avid user of illegal substances and alcohol. In 1984, he attempted to change his life by attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, but by 2010, he was back to his old ways of experimenting with dangerous drugs such as bath salts.

At the age of 60, John moved to a beachfront compound in Belize. However, while there, he became involved in a dispute with his neighbor, Greg Faull, which ended in Greg's death. Greg was found dead of a gunshot wound shortly after allegedly poisoning John's dogs, which led people to believe that John had been involved. While he was never charged in relation to the death, he did end up being imprisoned for an unrelated reason — tax evasion.

The American IRS began growing interested in John because of his unreported assets and finances. In 2018, he was finally arrested for tax evasion at an international airport in Barcelona. In 2021, he allegedly ended his own life in his prison cell. With his ex-girlfriend making claims that say otherwise, there is a lot of speculation at the moment.

Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee is available for streaming on Netflix now.