London (AFP) – A UK court Tuesday awarded £700 million ($946 million) compensation to IT firm Hewlett Packard in a fraud case involving late British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, who was killed last year when his superyacht sank off Sicily. A UK court ruled in 2022 in favour of the US technology giant, now known as Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), in a civil case linked to the sale of Lynch’s company, Autonomy. Lynch, once dubbed the “British Bill Gates”, founded software firm Autonomy in the 1990s. Its $11 billion sale to Hewlett Packard in 2011 also saw him face fraud charges in the United States.
HP accused Autonomy of artificially inflating its revenues and growth before the sale and had demanded $5 billion in compensation. “We are pleased that this decision brings us a step closer to the resolution of this dispute,” said a spokesperson for Hewlett Packard. “We look forward to the further hearing at which the final amount of HPE’s damages will be determined,” they added. The further hearing, dealing with matters including interest, currency conversion and whether Lynch’s estate can appeal the decision, is scheduled for November.
The British court had not yet awarded damages when Lynch was killed along with his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, four friends and the yacht’s cook in the sinking of his British-flagged vessel Bayesian in a storm in August 2024. Lynch, 59, his family, and guests were on board celebrating his acquittal in the massive US fraud case. The 56-metre (185-foot) yacht was struck by a mini-tornado before dawn as it was anchored off Porticello, near Palermo.
Hewlett Packard had recorded nearly $9 billion in write-downs, including more than $5 billion it claimed resulted from accounting manipulations by Autonomy’s directors before the sale. But justice Robert Hildyard in the British case wrote in his ruling that “HP’s claim was always substantially exaggerated”.
The initial compensation award had been expected in September 2024, and before his sudden death, Lynch had prepared a written reaction to the judgement. The ruling “exposes HP’s failure and makes clear that the immense damage to Autonomy was down to HP’s own errors and actions,” he wrote, adding that the company would consider appealing the decision. A spokesman told AFP any debts would have to be discharged from Lynch’s estate.
© 2024 AFP
