Fast cars, beautiful women and lots of cash: what else could a man possibly want? Kim Dotcom, aka Kim Schmitz, aka Kimble (a hacker alias inspired by The Fugitive’s Dr. Kimball) had it all, but apparently wanted more.

The former hacker was the founder of popular file-sharing website MegaUpload and was worth more than US$200 million. Until last week, that is, when he made headlines all over the world after feds shut down his site and police arrested him in New Zealand.

Dotcom’s collection of cars worth some US$6 million, which including two examples of the rare Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM along with a dozen or so other Benzes and a Lamborghini LM002, was to be expected – even with the not-so-subtle “God” and “CEO” vanity license plates.

But now, federal authorities want him extradited to the U.S., where he is facing criminal charges for copyright infringement, racketeering and money laundering. Serious charges indeed, that if proven in court, may lead to a 55-year imprisonment.

His trouble with the law started as far back as 1994, when the police confiscated US$80,000 in computer equipment – and continued for a long time not only in the States, but also in Germany and Thailand.

Listing his exploits would take a lot of space and time. As far as motoring is concerned, apart from his vast automobile collection, Dotcom had a thing for high-speed chases.

In 2005, he was included in a Vanity Fair story about the sports-car race Gumball 3000. He was described as a “very skilled and fast driver” and a “highly competitive venture capitalist”. This definition fits most of Gumball entrants.

Not all of them though made a bet with two female competitors that if they win the race, he would give them half a million pounds each, but if he won, he would get a three-some, or at least that’s what Vanity Fair reported back in the day.

On a separate occasion, it was reported that when 10 police officers waited at a tollbooth to stop him for going 155 mph (250 km/h), he simply bypassed them by using the service lane. “I decided to get here first and nothing would stop me. I’m very glad that I can sit here tonight, enjoy the party and the fame of being the fastest Gumballer again,” Kim told Vanity Fair.

He then wanted to launch his own version of the Gumball 3000, called The Ultimate Rally. It would be, in Dotcom’s own words, “the first exotic-car transcontinental race of its kind” covering 3,000 miles over a period of five days, include 100 cars and award the winner a US$2 million prize.

Apart from racing, he also founded a company called “Megacar” in 2001. The idea behind that project was based on his own customized Mercedes S-Class that featured a wireless computer, 16 phone lines, real-time video-conferencing access, a flat-screen that folded into the roof, four TVs and a DVD player.

According to a report from The Independent, he thought such a car would be ideal for heads of state and diplomats and claimed Chrysler and GM were interested in building a model based on his own model.

And oh, did we tell you that after an arrest in Bangkok, he referred to himself on his website as “His Royal Highness King Kimble the First, Ruler of the Kimpire”? Well, at least he had a sense of humor…

Story References: Fastcompany

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