HP seeks $1.7 billion from Mike Lynch’s estate

Hewlett-Packard (HP) is seeking $1.7bn (£1.3bn) from the estate of Mike Lynch – who died last year when his yacht sank – in exchange for HP’s takeover of his company Autonomy, lawyers for the tech giant have told the High Court.

HP, now known as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE), bought Mr. Lynch’s technology company Autonomy in 2011, but says Mr. Lynch and Autonomy’s former chief financial officer, Suchovan Hossain, misrepresented the company’s finances.

In a 2019 trial, HPE accused Lynch of inflating Autonomy’s revenues, forcing it to announce an $8.8 billion writedown on the company’s value.

Judge Hildyard ruled in 2022 that HPE had been “substantially successful” in its claim, but would likely get “substantially less” than the $5 billion it sought in damages.

Earlier this year, it was ruled that HPE had incurred losses of around £700m by buying Autonomy.

Mr. Lynch and his teenage daughter Hannah They were among seven passengers and crew who died When the ship Bayzi sank off the coast of Sicily last August during a storm, it caused the ship to capsize and sink.

The hearing in London, which began on Tuesday, will decide whether Lynch’s heirs can appeal the 2022 and 2025 rulings.

In written submissions, Patrick Goodall, the lawyer representing HPE, said Mr. Lynch’s estate was responsible for paying $1.7 billion, including about $761 million in interest.

He said Lynch “not only committed a massive fraud, he lied about it at every stage.”

He said the plaintiffs had spent nearly £150 million on the legal battle, and were seeking nearly £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 rulings.

In written submissions, Richard Hale, the lawyer representing Lynch’s estate, said the $761 million in benefits sought by the claimants was “an excessive amount… based on flawed analysis” and that “a rational, legally and economically, approach would provide a materially lower figure.”

He added that the plaintiffs’ position that they “were the victors in this lawsuit” was “overly simplistic.”

Hill also said Lynch’s heirs should be allowed to appeal the two previous rulings, claiming the judge “got the law wrong” and that there was “compelling reason to allow the appeal to be heard.”

A Lynch family spokesman said: “Today’s hearing deals with technical issues that change nothing about the fundamental substance of the case.

“The basic facts remain that HP’s claim was fundamentally flawed and grossly exaggerated.”

In a separate case, Lynch was extradited to the United States in 2023 to face criminal charges, and was acquitted of fraud charges in 2024.

He was celebrating his acquittal on his yacht when he drowned.