Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has announced it will continue its legal battle to seek up to $4 billion in damages from the estate of Mike Lynch, the co-founder of the British tech firm Autonomy. This decision comes despite Lynch’s recent death in August, when his yacht sank off the coast of Sicily.
The U.S. technology company is pursuing this compensation following allegations of fraud by Lynch, which allegedly inflated Autonomy’s value prior to its acquisition by HP in 2011 for $11.1 billion. The scandal, which HP uncovered in late 2012, led to significant financial discrepancies within the company.
Lynch, who had always denied any wrongdoing, is now deceased, but HPE remains committed to seeing the legal proceedings through. An HPE spokesperson confirmed the company’s intention to continue the case in an emailed statement to Reuters.
In a 2022 civil case, HP secured a win against Lynch, though the High Court judge ruled that any awarded damages would be less than the $5 billion initially sought. The lawsuit also named Autonomy’s former chief financial officer, Sushovan Hussain, in its claims.
