German-Finnish Internet antihero Kim Dotcom is perhaps one of the most eccentric and polarizing figures in technology history. A serial cybercriminal to some, a larger-than-life legend to others. You either love him or hate him. Either way, boy does he know how to make headlines.
This week it was announced that Dotcom will be extradited to the US to face charges related to his defunct file-sharing service Megaupload. In 2012, US authorities accused Dotcom of Conspiracy to commit extortion, wire fraud, copyright infringement, and racketeering in connection with the Site.
Since then, the multimillionaire has lived in New Zealand and lived in luxury. Now his past is catching up with him. If convicted on all charges, he faces up to 55 years in prison.
Kim Dotcom calls himself an “internet freedom fighter” and claims he has no control over what users upload to his site. The tech founder has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. “Don't worry, I have a plan,” Dotcom posted on X this week in response to the ruling.
Who is Kim Dotcom?
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The Internet entrepreneur, whose real name is Kim Schmitz, rose to fame in the 1990s as a teenage hacker who demonstrated his skills by NASA, Pentagon and Citibank. At just 20 years old, he called himself a “tech millionaire” and founded several online companies.
Dotcom's most successful venture was Megaupload, which operated similarly to Dropbox or Google Drive today. At its peak, the site accounted for 4% of the world's Internet traffic. It became a global hub for sharing vast amounts of copyrighted material.
Now that Kim Dotcom has finally faced the consequences of his fate, let's take the opportunity to look at five crazy facts about this larger-than-life internet legend.
A yacht and the Prince of Monaco
Kim Dotcom is notorious for his opulent lifestyle and hosts extravagant parties with Hollywood stars, supermodels and the political elite. During the 2000 Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix, Dotcom chartered a 73-meter-long yacht and used it for Host parties for guests such as Prince Rainier of Monaco.
In 2012, Dotcom's net worth was estimated at around $200 million. His personal assets included dozens of luxury cars, jet skis, helicopters, a private jet, and a huge mansion with a giant pool in the shape of a grand piano.
His wealth and his penchant for flaunting it made him a well-known and controversial figure. But for a computer geek who spent most of his time cracking codes and playing video games alone at home, it also made him a walking contradiction.
Guinness World Record
Kim Dotcom was once number one in the world Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 player among more than 15 million online players. He holds the Guinness World Record for the longest multiplayer gaming session, which lasted 36 hours and 15 minutes, set in 2013 while playing the first-person shooter.
Dotcom slipped to second place in the CoD rankings in 2012 after his arrest and subsequent four-week detention in a New Zealand prison. It turns out that prisons don't always have Xboxes.
Hiding from the FBI
In 2012, helicopters, heavily armed police and anti-terrorist units raided Dotcom's mansion in a Hollywood-style operation. The raid was part of an FBI-led effort to take down Megaupload. The seized assets included 18 luxury cars, artwork and $175 million in cash.
During the raid, Dotcom – a Doomsday Preparator And Conspiracy theorists — tried to evade arrest by hiding in a specially constructed secure room. Police managed to break in, where they found him sitting with a shotgun beside him.
Music career
During his legal battle with the U.S. government over Megaupload, Kim Dotcom frequently taunted the authorities on social media, even posting a rap video portraying himself as a freedom fighter battling a corrupt U.S. government.
In addition to his numerous social media videos, Dotcom even released an album entitled Good times in 2014. Megauploads Theme song — featuring Sernena Williams, will.i.am, Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather, Jamie Foxx and others — has to be the most annoying earworm on the internet.
And then came the rather shudder Video of “Precious,” a song Dotcom and his then-wife Mona wrote and sang about their children. Yes, you heard right, Dotcom was a family man. He has six children from three different relationships.
Involvement in politics
By this point, you probably know that with Kim Dotcom, anything is possible, so it should come as no surprise that the 6-foot-tall, 330-pound giant even spent a stint in politics.
In 2014, Dotcom founded the Internet Party in New Zealand. His goal was to overthrow the current Prime Minister, John Key. He claimed that he had “absolute proof” in the form of an email that showed that the Prime Minister was involved in a plan to bring Dotcom to New Zealand so he could be extradited to the United States.
It turned out that the Email was a fake. On election day, the Internet Party failed to win a seat in Parliament. Nevertheless, it was an effective, attention-grabbing venture – and that pretty much sums up Dotcom’s entire life of flashy toys, crazy stunts and Theatricality in social media.
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