Julian Assange, born on July 3, 1971, in Townsville City, Australia, is an Australian computer programmer and political activist who is best known for founding WikiLeaks.
Julian Assange Net Worth 2019: $1.5 million
Julian Assange, the controversial founder of the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, has a reported estimated net worth of $1.5 million, most of which came through an autobiographical book deal.
Julian Assange Early Life & Childhood (1971-2005)
Born in Townsville, Queensland, Assange attended a variety of different schools during his youth such as the Goolmangar Primary School in New South Wales, Townsville State High School, Central Queensland University and the University of Melbourne.
The Founding of Wikileaks (2006-2011)
Assange founded WikiLeaks in the year 2006.
WikiLeaks, an international non-profit that publishes secret and classified government information and documents, has a database of over 10 million documents.
Assange has since described WikiLeaks as “a giant library of the world’s most persecuted documents.”
In 2010, WikiLeaks became an internationally known entity following the publishing of classified American documents provided by Chelsea Manning.
The government of the United States of America views WikiLeaks in a different light than it’s founder, as CIA Director Mike Pompeo once called the site “a non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia.”
Ecuadorian Asylum (2012-Present)
On Thursday, April 11, 2019, Assange was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Service at the Embassy of Ecuador in London after he had been staying there protected by political asylum since 2012.
The Metropolitan Police Service said Assange, who was living in Ecuadorian asylum to avoid extradition to Sweden over a years-old sexual assault case, was arrested for failing to surrender to the court.
As for Ecuador’s role in Assange’s arrest, government officials said his asylum was revoked “after repeated violations of international conventions”, according to BBC News.
Prior to his arrest, Assange had lived at the Embassy of Ecuador in London for 2,487 days.
