Tech giant seeking $1.7bn from Mike Lynch's estate after yacht death

"HP, now known as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE), bought Mr Lynch's tech firm Autonomy in 2011, but it says Mr Lynch and Autonomy's former chief financial officer, Sushovan Hussain, misrepresented the company's finances. In a 2019 trial, HPE had accused Mr Lynch of inflating Autonomy's revenues which it said forced it to announce an $8.8bn write-down of the company's worth. Mr Justice Hildyard ruled in 2022 that HPE had "substantially succeeded" in its claim."

"In written submissions, Patrick Goodall, the barrister representing HPE, argued that Mr Lynch's estate was liable to pay $1.7bn, which includes around $761m in interest. He said that Mr Lynch had "not only perpetrated an enormous fraud, but lied about it at every stage". He said the claimants had spent almost 150m on the legal battle, and were seeking nearly 113m of their costs from Mr Lynch's estate."

"Earlier this year, he ruled that HPE suffered losses amounting to around 700m through the purchase of Autonomy. Mr Lynch and his teenage daughter Hannah were among seven passengers and crew who died when the Bayesian went down off the coast of Sicily last August during a storm which caused the vessel to capsize and sink. A hearing in London, which began on Tuesday, will now decide whether Mr Lynch's estate can appeal against the 2022 and 2025 rulings."

Hewlett-Packard Enterprise purchased Autonomy in 2011 and alleges that Mike Lynch and CFO Sushovan Hussain misrepresented Autonomy's finances, inflating revenues. A 2019 trial led HPE to claim an $8.8bn write-down and a 2022 ruling found HPE had substantially succeeded, though likely to receive less than $5bn. A 2025 ruling estimated HPE's losses at around $700m. Lynch died in a yacht sinking with his daughter and others in August. HPE now seeks $1.7bn from Lynch's estate, including about $761m interest, plus legal costs; Lynch's estate disputes the interest calculation.

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