McAfee Corp.

What does McAfee own?

McAfee owns the McAfee consumer security brand and its product lines including Total Protection, McAfee+, VPN, and Scam Protection. Its former enterprise security business was sold in 2021 and became Trellix.

Is McAfee publicly traded?

No. McAfee was taken private in March 2022 in an approximately $14 billion acquisition. It previously traded on Nasdaq as MCFE from October 2020 to March 2022, and earlier in its history before the 2011 Intel acquisition.

Who founded McAfee?

John McAfee founded McAfee Associates in Santa Clara, California in 1987 after developing software to remove an early computer virus. He left the company in 1994 and died in 2021.

Where is McAfee headquartered?

McAfee is headquartered in San Jose, California, USA. It was founded in Santa Clara and maintains its corporate center in Silicon Valley.

Who owns McAfee?

McAfee is owned by a private equity consortium led by Advent International and Permira, joined by Crosspoint Capital Partners, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, GIC and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which acquired it in 2022.

What is McAfee's relationship with Intel?

Intel acquired McAfee in 2011 for $7.68 billion and renamed it Intel Security in 2014. The company was spun back out in 2017 as a joint venture with TPG taking majority control; Intel retained a minority stake initially but fully exited through subsequent transactions.

Is McAfee the same as Trellix?

No. Trellix is a separate company formed from McAfee's former enterprise security business and FireEye's products business, owned by Symphony Technology Group. Modern McAfee is exclusively a consumer security company.

John McAfee founded McAfee Associates in Santa Clara, California in 1987 after encountering one of the first computer viruses and writing a program to remove it. The company rode the rise of the personal computer and the internet, distributing its antivirus through a shareware model that let users try software free and pay to continue, an approach that made McAfee the dominant consumer antivirus of the 1990s.

The company's ownership history is among the most complicated in tech. McAfee Associates merged with Network General in 1997 to form Network Associates, then reclaimed the McAfee name in 2004. Intel acquired it in 2011 for $7.68 billion, renamed it Intel Security in 2014, then spun it back out in 2017 as a joint venture with private equity firm TPG taking a majority stake and Intel retaining 49%.

The refloated McAfee returned to public markets on Nasdaq in October 2020 under the ticker MCFE. That public stint lasted barely 17 months: in March 2022 a consortium including Advent International, Permira, Crosspoint Capital Partners, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, GIC and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority took the company private in a deal valued at approximately $14 billion.

The 2021 sale of the enterprise business to Symphony Technology Group, which folded it with FireEye's products business into the new company Trellix, left McAfee as a pure consumer security vendor. John McAfee, the founder, had left the company in 1994 and died in a Spanish prison in 2021 while facing extradition on US tax charges, a story with no legal connection to the modern company.

McAfee's founder legacy is its most persistent reputational complication. John McAfee's later life involved allegations and legal troubles far removed from the company, and the brand periodically absorbs association with his story despite his departure in 1994, decades before the current entity existed.

On the operational side, the company's products have faced the security industry's standard criticisms: antivirus effectiveness debates, consumer complaints about subscription renewal pricing and bundling practices, and the broader question of whether third-party antivirus adds value over built-in OS protections. McAfee settled an FTC matter in 2019 related to renewal practices in some jurisdictions and has faced the auto-renewal litigation common across consumer subscription software.