"Pray for me"

Kim Dotcom recovers from “severe stroke”

German internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, who is threatened with extradition to the USA, says he has suffered a severe stroke. "The best medical professionals are helping me recover. I will be back as soon as possible," wrote the 50-year-old, who has lived in New Zealand since 2010, on X. "Pray for my family and me."

The founder of the former Internet platform Megaupload is real name Kim Schmitz and has lived in the Pacific country since 2010. The USA wants to put him on trial for copyright infringement and money laundering on a large scale. If convicted, he could face decades in prison. Back in 2018, Dotcom had already stated that he had major health problems after "six years of stress" with regard to the legal wrangling.

Fighting the threat of extradition
New Zealand's Minister of Justice Paul Goldsmith signed an extradition order in August - much to the annoyance of the German, who was combative. "I love New Zealand. I'm not going anywhere," he wrote on social media at the time. One of his lawyers had announced his intention to take the case to the Supreme Court of New Zealand.

The entrepreneur, who was born in Kiel in 1974, has been involved in a legal dispute for years. There have already been several proceedings up to New Zealand's Supreme Court in Wellington to prevent his extradition.

Dotcom is one of the most colorful figures in the Internet world, but he is controversial. He first appeared on the hacker scene in the mid-1990s. He became a millionaire many times over with the data exchange Megaupload. The company was financed by advertising and paid access for subscribers. At times, the site was one of the most popular websites in the world. It was shut down in 2012 following an investigation by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).