Australian multi-millionaire arrested by Secret Service, pardoned by Trump and sued by Apple before coming home
Australian entrepreneur Chris Wade has returned to his hometown after a high-profile career in the US involving cybersecurity, a presidential pardon, and a major business acquisition. He recently purchased a local pub, shifting his focus from high-tech ventures to community-based projects.
Why it matters
It highlights the unconventional career path of a successful tech executive and the intersection of global tech influence with local community life.
Chris Wade has been unsuccessfully sued by Apple, arrested by the Secret Service and summoned to the White House to troubleshoot with Elon Musk and Donald Trump.
He is probably the most successful Australian entrepreneur you've never heard of and is certainly the only Australian tech executive to be pardoned by the current US president.
Despite decades in the US that took him from convicted hacker to the White House, he is back in his home town of Murwillumbah on the NSW north coast.
Last year, the cybersecurity startup Wade co-founded, Corellium, was bought by tech firm Cellebrite for $285 million (NZ$343m).
Soon after the sale of his business, a company executive called him to ask him which supercar he bought.
He responded: "I didn't buy a supercar, I bought a pub." Wade paid $17.8 million (NZ$21.4m) for Murwillumbah's Riverview Hotel in December.
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