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A British court on Tuesday awarded £700 million in damages to Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) in a long-running fraud case involving late tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, who died last year when his superyacht sank during a storm off the coast of Sicily.
The ruling follows a 2022 decision in which the court found in favour of HPE in a civil dispute related to the 2011 acquisition of Lynch’s company, Autonomy. Once hailed as the “British Bill Gates”, Lynch founded the software firm in the 1990s and later sold it to Hewlett Packard for $11 billion—a deal that would become mired in allegations of financial misconduct.
Hewlett Packard had accused Autonomy’s leadership of artificially inflating the company’s revenue figures and growth prospects in the lead-up to the sale. The US tech giant had initially sought up to $5 billion in compensation, citing nearly $9 billion in losses, including more than $5 billion it attributed to accounting irregularities.
In delivering Tuesday’s judgement, the court awarded £700 million, though it noted that HP’s original compensation demands had been “substantially exaggerated”. A further hearing in November will address additional elements such as interest, currency conversion, and the possibility of an appeal by Lynch’s estate.
Responding to the judgement, a Hewlett Packard spokesperson said: “We are pleased that this decision brings us a step closer to the resolution of this dispute,” adding that they await the final determination of the damages.
Lynch had been celebrating his acquittal in a separate, high-profile US fraud trial when tragedy struck in August 2024. He, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, four other guests, and the yacht’s cook perished when his 56-metre vessel, Bayesian, was caught in a violent mini-tornado while anchored off Porticello near Palermo.
At the time of his death, Lynch had prepared a written response to the impending judgement, stating that the court’s findings “expose HP’s failure” and suggested that the damage to Autonomy was largely the result of Hewlett Packard’s own actions. His estate is expected to settle any financial liabilities arising from the ruling.
