Hewlett-Packard Continues Pursuit of $4 Billion Claim Against Mike Lynch

Mike Lynch leaves the Rolls Building in London following the civil case over his £8.4 billion sale of his software firm Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski/PA Images via Getty Images) — Image Credit: PA Images via Getty Images

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is continuing its pursuit of civil fraud damages of up to $4 billion from the estate of Mike Lynch, the British tech mogul who died last month when his yacht sank.

In 2022, Britain’s High Court ruled that the information technology company “had substantially succeeded in its civil fraud claims,” according to a statement from the company. In February, lawyers for HPE and Lynch argued in court about the amount of the damages. However, Lynch had planned to appeal the case.

Judge Hildyard, who has indicated that the damages would likely be “substantially” less than what HP had sought, is expected to issue a ruling in the coming months.

“The judge’s decision regarding damages due to HPE will arrive in due course,” Hewlett Packard Enterprise said Monday in a statement. “It is HPE’s intention to follow the proceedings through to their conclusion.”

The claims were made against Lynch and Sushovan Hussain, the former chief financial officer of Autonomy, a business software company Lynch founded, which was sold to Hewlett Packard in 2011 for $11 billion.

Italian Coast Guards carry a body on a rescue boat in Porticello harbor near Palermo, with a third body at the back of the boat on August 21, 2024, two days after the British-flagged luxury yacht Bayesian sank. Divers searching for six missing people following the sinking of a superyacht off Sicily in a storm have found four bodies, a source close to the search told AFP. The Bayesian, which had 22 people aboard including 10 crew, was anchored some 700 metres from port before dawn when it was struck by a waterspout. Among the six missing were UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, and Jonathan Bloomer, the chair of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife Judy. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP) (Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images) — Italian Coast Guards carry a body on a rescue boat in Porticello harbor near Palermo, with a third body at the back of the boat on August 21, 2024, two days after the British-flagged luxury yacht Bayesian sank. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP) (Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Lynch died when his yacht, the Bayesian, sank in a storm off Sicily on August 19. Now a widow, Angela Bacares—one of the fifteen people rescued—could be liable for the damages.

Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, whom he shared with Bacares, were among six passengers who died when the 184-foot luxury yacht went down. One crew member, yacht chef Recaldo Thomas, also died. Lynch had gathered on the yacht with family and friends to celebrate his acquittal in a separate U.S. criminal trial for fraud and conspiracy charges.

On Monday, September 2, the Italian news agency ANSA announced that the first autopsies were conducted on a husband and wife who were among the seven deceased. The reports confirmed that Christopher and Neda Morvillo died by drowning.

Initial results from the examinations, performed by Professor Antonella Argo of the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Palermo Policlinico, showed no signs of trauma.

Autopsies for another husband and wife, Jonathan and Judy Bloomer, are scheduled for Wednesday, while those for the remaining three victims—Mike Lynch, his daughter Hannah, and chef Thomas—are still pending.