HP seeking $1.7bn from Mike Lynch’s estate
Hewlett Packard (HP) is seeking $1.7bn (£1.3bn) from the estate of Mike Lynch, who died when his yacht sank last year due to HP’s acquisition of Autonomy, the technology giant’s lawyers told the Supreme Court.
HP, now known as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE), bought Mr. Lynch’s technology firm Autonomy in 2011, but Mr. Lynch and Autonomy’s former chief financial officer, Sushovan Hussain, are said to have misrepresented the company’s finances.
At a hearing in 2019, HPE accused Mr. Lynch of inflating Autonomy’s revenues, saying it forced him to announce that the company would reduce its value by $8.8 billion.
Mr Justice Hildyard ruled in 2022 that HPE had “substantially succeeded” in its claim, but was likely to receive “significantly less” than the $5 billion it sought in damages.
Earlier this year it ruled that HPE had incurred losses of around £700 million due to the acquisition of Autonomy.
Mr Lynch and his teenage daughter Hannah He was among the seven passengers and crew who died The Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily last August during a storm that caused the ship to capsize and sink.
The hearing, which began in London on Tuesday, will now decide whether Mr Lynch’s estate can appeal the 2022 and 2025 decisions.
Patrick Goodall, the lawyer representing HPE, argued in written submissions that Mr Lynch’s estate was liable to pay $1.7 billion, including about $761 million in interest.
He said Mr Lynch “not only committed a massive fraud but also lied about it at every stage”.
He said the plaintiffs had spent around £150 million on the legal fight and were seeking around £113 million of their costs from Mr Lynch’s estate.
Mr Goodall also said Mr Lynch’s estate should not be allowed to appeal against the 2022 or 2025 decisions.
Richard Hill, the lawyer representing Mr Lynch’s estate, said in written submissions that the $761 million in interest claimed by the plaintiffs was “an excessive sum based on a flawed analysis” and that “a legally and economically rational approach would provide a materially lower figure”.
He added that the plaintiffs’ position that “they are the winners in this case” was “overly simplistic.”
Mr Hill also said Mr Lynch’s estate should be allowed to appeal against two earlier decisions, claiming the judge had “acted unlawfully” and there was a “compelling reason to allow the appeal to be heard”.
A spokesman for the Lynch family said: “Today’s hearing deals with technical matters that do not change anything about the underlying merits of the case.
“The basic facts are that HP’s claim is fundamentally flawed and grossly exaggerated.”
In a separate case, Mr. Lynch was extradited to the United States to face criminal charges in 2023 and was cleared of fraud charges in 2024.
He was celebrating his acquittal when his yacht sank.
