John was born on a U.S. Army base in the United Kingdom in 1945. His father, Don McAfee, was a World War II soldier when he met John’s English mother, Joan Williams. John was then raised in Virginia.

The tech mogul had a tough childhood, since Don was an alcoholic who was known to be abusive. The year John turned 15 years old, Don took his own life. The suicide heavily impacted John for years to come. In fact, John even got hooked on drugs and alcohol himself –– basically following in the same addictive pattern as his father.