Codepunk 059 Jerold Haas

A lot of articles today about burned-out programmers attribute the word "genius" to them prior to divulging their downfall. In this episode of Codepunk, we take a look at this trend of "genius" programmers through the story of Jerold Haas—a programmer on his way to cryptocurrency riches, but from a backstory filled with drugs, mental illness, and bad social relationships. The mystery of Haas' death is only trumped by the bizarre behavior in his past, as he hopped from house to house and job to job, sabotaging his own success by spiraling out of control until one day he walked out into the woods and disappeared.

Wired article by Brendan I. Koerner: The Strange Life and Mysterious Death of a Virtuoso Coder.