Kim Dotcom - the web guru who calls himself 'God'

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Fri, 20 Jan 2012 6:01p.m.

Kim Dotcom’s net worth is not clear, but he made his money in the dotcom boom (Reuters)

Kim Dotcom’s net worth is not clear, but he made his money in the dotcom boom (Reuters)

By Emma Jolliff

Who is Kim Dotcom?

Born Kim Schmitz, the German-born Megaupload.com founder has multiple aliases including Kimble and Kim Tim Jim Vestor.

The former computer hacker has become a file sharing guru through his website Megaupload.com, which the FBI says netted him $52 million two years ago.

And he has been no shrinking violet when it comes to showing off his lavish lifestyle.

There are parties, girls, yachts, Ferraris and helicopters.

He even watched the fireworks he gifted to Auckland on New Year's Eve in 2010 from his own chopper.

“I can see crowds gathering for what will be a spectacular display on a scale never seen before in New Zealand, courtesy of Mr Kim Dotcom,” he says on a YouTube video.

The number plate for one of his car’s reads "GOD".

Ten years ago Business Week reported Dotcom had been given a two-year suspended sentence for computer hacking.

And that he had been charged over insider trading.

He has been convicted of credit card fraud and embezzlement.

Dotcom’s net worth is not clear, but he made his money in the dotcom boom.

However, at least three of his companies have gone bankrupt.

Business Week also reported that no one outside Germany cared about him until he injected a million dollars into Letsbuyit.com.

Dotcom has an appetite for speed, taking part in the Gumball 3000 rally.

He once posted a clip of himself on YouTube driving across a golf course in a Mercedes.

“Look at this, all the people playing golf, man, and we're driving around in a Mercedes, how f***ing cool is that,” he says in the video.

Dotcom holds Finnish and Hong Kong citizenship.

His residency application for New Zealand initially failed the "good character" test, but was approved after he invested $10 million in Government bonds and made a donation to the Christchurch Earthquake Fund.

His role in the Megaupload web locker has earned him the nickname "Dr Evil".

“Dr Evil is always getting away with it,” he once said.

But not if the FBI has its way. 

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Comments

29 Jan 2012 04:04p.m.

josua wrote:

Ifink nz is small n very poor litle country .perharps corrupt litle country of ours.luk at da moment how many finance company go down hole.because of that n plus da people at da top dont care at all.bt da normall people of da society suffer da most.luk at this guy.MR KIM DOTCOM he already doing somefing real bad b4.but our litle goverment dont care very much about that.why they are care now.leave him alone.

24 Jan 2012 07:07p.m.

key wrote:

Gutentag Herr Kim.In 3rd world countries at least corruption is open.Here the govt does it covertly with a $10mill bribe.This guy is obviously a genius who played the system.Cyberspace is financially uncharted waters.Why do we suck up to the FBI who are known for corruption world wide?.I guess Hollywood and america lost some money so they are dark on it.Leave this NZ citizen alone big brother.I applaud him, let NZ justice find him guilty or not.

23 Jan 2012 04:15p.m.

Kay wrote:

"The number plate for one of his car’s reads "GOD"." No apostrophe necessary.

23 Jan 2012 03:06p.m.

JJ wrote:

Point.1 Your headline says he refers to himself as God. He owned a car with the number plate "god". That's a bit different. But whats the rego plate of his car got to do with copyright infringement. Point.2 Three News and the NZ herald coined him Dr Evil, If prior to that you can show me, just one instance of him being called 'Dr.Evil', then ill stand corrected. Point.3 megaupload.com also hosted files for many companies and individuals. These are unable to be reached at the moment, costing many quite genuine people time and money. And that IS what this is all about. The guy cost HOLLYWOOD ( a division of NZ it seems) over 500 million dollars by distributing movies or files, worldwide. Frankly there own distribution channels can't do that, so it puts them to shame. I'm not saying copying is OK but helicopters ? My Point. so what ? Bad weather on the set probably costs hollywood 500 million a year. There are other industries that get ripped with copyright infringements. Is there such thing as a genuine rolex watch, yet there are countless people making them and selling them, where are the hellicopters now, going in to taiwan or china to get the fake rolex makers? Gone to Taupo to get the kid who raped the tourist? NO. \ Trying to regulate the web to get people to stop downloading movies is like closing the roads around Mcdonalds restaurants in the hope that customers will drive to the supermarkets to buy vegetables instead. Except Hollywood does not own supermarkets. This whole thing stinks of conspiracy and governments and the media just follow suit and report on what you are told to report on. Seen no mention of Starship hospital or the millions this guy gave to charity, did you not have enough room to print that. BIAS and BS are far more easy to detect that you realise, but you keep putting it out there. Bad reporting !

22 Jan 2012 01:12p.m.

Erm... wrote:

It's a funny old rule - I'm not sure anyone with a spare $10m can possibly be of good character! But to fail a character test, then have your character credentials restored for $10m - heads should roll within the immigration department, but let's face it, they won't.

21 Jan 2012 10:15p.m.

John wrote:

His residency application for New Zealand initially failed the "good character" test, but was approved after he invested $10 million in Government bonds and made a donation to the Christchurch Earthquake Fund well, good on Mr Key for bring in the money, what other trash do we have in the country as a result of his greed? This is not what we want is it?