Autonomy founder Mike Lynch was acquitted of fraud on Thursday by a jury in San Francisco, a key get for the entrepreneur who has been dogged by authorized troubles considering the fact that the disastrous sale of his organization to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011.
Reps for Lynch and U.S. prosecutors claimed Lynch was acquitted on all 15 prices — a person depend of conspiracy, and 14 counts of wire fraud, each and every connected to unique transactions or communications.
Previous Autonomy finance executive Stephen Chamberlain, who faced the similar fees at trial together with Lynch, was also acquitted on all counts, the Lynch agent stated.
The trial, wherever prosecutors claimed Lynch and Chamberlain schemed to inflate Autonomy’s earnings, was the most up-to-date chapter in a legal saga stemming from the unsuccessful offer.
The Autonomy sale was a person of the major British tech promotions at the time but promptly went sour, with HP creating down Autonomy’s benefit by $8.8 billion within just a yr.
“I am elated with today’s verdict,” Lynch, who was the moment when compared with Apple cofounder Steve Work and Microsoft cofounder Monthly bill Gates, reported in a statement. “I am wanting ahead to returning to the U.K. and finding again to what I enjoy most: my family members and innovating in my area.”
Abraham Simmons, a spokesperson for the Office environment of the United States Legal professional reported: “We admit and respect the verdict.”
At the trial, which lasted 3 months, jurors read from far more than 30 government witnesses such as Leo Apotheker, the former HP CEO who was fired weeks just after the Autonomy deal was declared.
Lynch also took the stand in his very own defense at the trial, denying wrongdoing and telling jurors that HP botched the two companies’ integration. Prosecutors mentioned Lynch and Chamberlain padded Autonomy’s funds in quite a few strategies, such as back-dated agreements and “round-trip” bargains that fronted hard cash to buyers by means of pretend contracts.
Lynch’s legal workforce argued at demo that HP was so eager to acquire Autonomy in advance of prospective rivals that it rushed by way of thanks diligence ahead of the sale. On the stand, the Cambridge College-educated entrepreneur stated he had been centered on tech difficulties, and entrusted income matters and the accounting choices at concern to Sushovan Hussain, Autonomy’s then-chief economic officer. Hussain was independently convicted in 2018 at a trial in the same courtroom on charges relevant to the offer with HP. He was introduced from U.S. prison in January following serving a 5-calendar year sentence.
Lynch turned floor-breaking analysis at Cambridge into the foundation of Autonomy, which turned Britain’s major software organization and a member of the blue-chip FTSE 100 index.
He was lauded by academics and experts and asked to suggest the British governing administration on technological innovation and innovation. The Autonomy acquisition was meant to gasoline HP’s computer software company. Rather, it spawned a series of bitter and high priced lawful battles. HP largely gained a civil lawsuit against Lynch and Hussain in London in 2022, although damages have not but been decided. The enterprise is trying to find $4 billion.
