US tech firm says it’s going to proceed case in opposition to Lynch’s property following his demise in a yacht wreck off Sicily.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has confirmed that it’s going to pursue $4bn in damages in opposition to the property of tech mogul Mike Lynch following his death in a yacht wreck off the coast of Sicily.
HPE had sued Lynch and his former chief monetary officer Sushovan Hussain for allegedly inflating the worth of Autonomy earlier than its acquisition for $11bn in 2011.
The Texas-based tech agency received a civil declare in opposition to Lynch at the UK’s Excessive Courtroom in 2022, though the decide mentioned that any damages could be considerably lower than the $5bn it had claimed.
“It’s HPE’s intention to observe the proceedings by means of to their conclusion,” the corporate mentioned in a press release on Monday.
Lynch, the founding father of the software program firm Autonomy, died when his superyacht, the Bayesian, sank in a storm off the Italian island on August 19.
Six different folks died within the sinking, together with Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter.
Fifteen folks survived, together with Lynch’s spouse Angela Bacares, who may now be responsible for damages.
Just a little greater than two months earlier than his demise, Lynch was acquitted of all 15 counts of fraud associated to the sale of Autonomy at a prison trial in San Francisco.
Lynch, who constantly denied any wrongdoing, mentioned he was “elated” and “grateful” after the decision in June.
“I’m trying ahead to returning to the UK and getting again to what I really like most: my household and innovating in my discipline,” he mentioned.
Lynch launched Autonomy in 1996 as a instrument firms may use to pinpoint helpful knowledge from sources similar to cellphone calls and emails.
Autonomy’s buy in 2011 on the time ranked as the costliest takeover of a British tech firm on report.
HPE initially hailed its buy of the corporate, however introduced a $8.8bn writedown lower than a yr later after reporting that it had found “accounting misrepresentations”.
