Micromuse Inc founder Chris Dawes was killed instantly along with two companions when his $1m McLaren F1 car crashed during a rain storm and exploded on Sunday. The 240mph McLaren, reputedly the fastest road car on the market, left the road in Essex, UK and hit a building before exploding into a ball of flames.
Dawes (39), who stepped down as president and CEO of the company in October 1998, netting a $24m fortune from the sale of his shares, was about to face charges of possession of crack cocaine after he was arrested in the Channel Islands in December (CI No 3,568).
Australian-born Dawes, described in the UK press as a tycoon, founded Micromuse in the attic of his London home in 1989 as a Sparc systems builder and Sun reseller, though the company made an international name for itself with its Netcool service level management software, aimed at telecommunications companies, ISPs and large corporates.
Micromuse headquarters is now in San Francisco. Gregory Brown, a former Ameritech Inc executive, took over as the new chairman and CEO last month. Stephen Allott, who served as interim CEO after Dawes resigned, continues as president and chief financial officer.
