Kim Dotcom: 'If the Government Destroys Your Billion Dollar Company ... Build A New Billion Dollar Company'
Flashy entrepreneur's new cloud company valued at $179 million.
March 25, 2014 -- Indicted cyber guru Kim Dotcom celebrated a deal today that would see the Internet storage company he founded while out on bail valued at $179 million and listed on New Zealand's stock exchange.
Dotcom is the founder of Megaupload, a file sharing website that allegedly facilitated millions of illegal entertainment downloads, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars of lost revenue for copyright holders.
The site has since been shuttered and Dotcom is fighting extradition to the U.S.
Mega Ltd., his latest venture, which he built while out on bail in New Zealand, is a cloud storage service.
"Indicted. Raided. On Bail. All assets frozen without trial. But we don't cry ourselves to sleep. We built #Mega from 0 into a $210m company," Dotcom tweeted today, giving his latest company's paper valuation in New Zealand's currency.
The company will be listed under a reverse takeover, according to Dotcom, in which an already listed company will acquire Mega and then rename itself.
Dotcom tweeted that the site has been a huge success, saying users have stored nearly one billion encrypted files in the Mega cloud and are uploading as many as 11 million files per day.
The tech giant -- who is known for his larger than life reputation and his towering stature -- was arrested in January 2012 during a raid on his lavish Coatesville, New Zealand estate. He is wanted
Megaupload was shut down after the raid, Dotcom's fleet of fancy cars was seized and the mogul's bank accounts were frozen.
U.S authorities are seeking his extradition on charges related to piracy, copyright infringement and racketeering.
Dotcom has vigorously fought the charges and said he can not be held responsible for people who used his file sharing site for illegitimate purposes.
An extradition hearing has been scheduled for July.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.