HPE CEO Defends $4B Lawsuit Against Late Tech Magnate Mike Lynch's Estate, Says It Is In Shareholders' Best Interest To 'Make The Difficult Decisions'

Hewlett Packard Enterprise HPE CEO Antonio Neri has defended the company’s decision to continue its $4 billion lawsuit against the estate of Mike Lynch, following the tech magnate’s recent death.

What Happened: Neri stated that the lawsuit, which seeks damages related to the 2011 acquisition of Autonomy, is in the shareholders’ best interest, reported Financial Times on Friday. Lynch, who founded Autonomy, passed away last month in a yacht accident off Sicily.

The accident, which also claimed the life of Lynch’s daughter, occurred while they were celebrating his acquittal on U.S. fraud charges. Despite this, Neri emphasized that the civil case in the UK remains unaffected by Lynch’s death or his U.S. acquittal.

“Obviously my job as a representative of shareholders is to make the difficult decisions,” Neri said, adding that the company must see the legal process through to its conclusion.

HPE, which emerged from the 2015 split of Hewlett-Packard, initially sued Lynch after an $8.8 billion writedown on the Autonomy acquisition. A UK High Court judge found Lynch liable for fraud in 2022.

Neri noted that the UK judge is expected to award damages soon. “We will gather and understand what comes next,” he said, reiterating that the civil case is independent of the U.S. criminal proceedings, according to the report.

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Why It Matters: The lawsuit against Lynch’s estate is significant due to the high-profile nature of the case and the substantial financial implications for HPE. Lynch, often referred to as the UK’s Bill Gates, was a prominent figure in the tech industry.

In May 2023, Lynch was extradited to the U.S. to face criminal fraud charges related to the 2011 acquisition of Autonomy by HPE. The U.S. government accused Lynch of inflating Autonomy’s revenues to make it more appealing to buyers.

However, in June, Lynch was acquitted of these charges, which he was celebrating at the time of his tragic death.

Despite his acquittal, the civil case in the UK continues, with HPE seeking damages for what it claims were fraudulent activities leading to an $8.8 billion writedown.

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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Kaustubh Bagalkote