British tech magnate Mike Lynch is in court in the U.S facing fraud allegations related to the 2011 sale of his company, Autonomy, to Hewlett-Packard (HP).
The charges claim Lynch inflated Autonomy’s value to secure a $11 billion (£8.6 billion) deal.
HP later wrote it down by $8.8 billion, claiming it was misled into overpaying.
Lynch co-founded Autonomy in 1996.
He testified in a San Francisco court that he was not involved in the transactions described in the trial, calling the experience “surreal.”
Known for software that could extract information from unstructured sources like emails and phone calls, Autonomy became one of the UK’s largest tech companies.
Lynch, once compared to Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, now faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors in San Francisco have spent weeks presenting their case, portraying Lynch as the “driving force” behind the alleged scheme.
They accuse him of using back-dated contracts and other tactics to inflate the company’s value.
However, Lynch’s defense argues that HP did not conduct adequate due diligence before the acquisition.
They are looking to distance him from other executives already convicted of fraud.
Lynch stressed his primary focus at Autonomy was on technology and marketing, leaving financial matters to others.
Lynch denies any involvement despite other executives being convicted of fraud
He said the scrutiny of his business practices was like examining a spotless kitchen with a microscope.
He implied that even the cleanest operations can reveal flaws under intense examination.
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Lynch is a former UK government adviser who has served on the BBC and the British Library boards.
He initially resisted extradition to the US.
However, he was ultimately compelled to face trial following a UK judge’s ruling in favor of HP in a similar civil fraud case in 2022.
In that case, HP is seeking approximately $4 billion in damages.
Alongside Lynch, Autonomy’s former finance executive Stephen Chamberlain is also on trial.
Lynch’s legal team maintains he was not directly involved in the fraudulent activities.
They stress the complexities of the tech business are being unfairly scrutinised.
The trial continues as both sides present their arguments.
