Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom walked out of jail Wednesday following a New Zealand court ruling on the same day granting him bail.

According to Agence France Presse (AFP), Dotcom, who was originally born Kim Schmitz but had since assumed a new legal name, was granted bail by North Shore District Court Judge Nevin Dawson following two earlier rulings that kept him behind bars since authorities clamped down on his file-sharing firm.

The new ruling dumped the earlier claim by prosecutors that the German national will slip out of the country the moment he regains his freedom.

That argument was based on the immense wealth that Dotcom had amassed while operating Megaupload, which according to U.S. authorities had facilitated online piracy of video, music and softwares that led to the hundreds of millions loss for American firms.

The court, however, noted that since Megaupload was shutdown earlier this year, most of Dotcom's assets have either been seized or frozen by authorities, leaving the flamboyant millionaire without the necessary funds to escape.

The NZ court is convinced, Dawson said, that Dotcom intends to stay in the country that has been his home for some time and wage a legal battle to regain possession of his millions.

"It would seem that he has every reason to stay to be with his family and to fight to keep his significant assets," Dawson was quoted by AFP as saying on his ruling.

Dotcom's release followed that of the earlier bail given to three Megaupload officials, also coming from NZ courts.

It remains unclear if the bail that Dotcom won would affect the application of the U.S. government for him to be extradited to the United States to face criminal charges.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, Dotcom and his cohorts had facilitated a global operation of 'massive online piracy' that netted for Megaupload some $175 million.

In the process, U.S. companies lost at least $500 million due directly to Megaupload's activities, described by American authorities as a criminal operation.

Prior to his arrest last month, Dotcom lived a lavish lifestyle that was characterised by a fleet of luxury cars, sexy models at his side and a luxurious mansion, where police found him holed up, inside a vault, during his arrest.

Authorities claimed that Dotcom shuttled between Hong Kong, where Megaupload was based, and New Zealand at the height of his company's operation.

U.S. authorities claimed jurisdiction of Dotcom's case since a number of Megaupload servers were located in America.