HPE Pursues Mike Lynch’s Estate To Secure £3 Billion Damages Claim

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has confirmed its intention to continue pursuing a claim for up to £3 billion in damages against the estate of tech tycoon Mike Lynch, following his death in a superyacht disaster last month, The Telegraph reported.

HPE is seeking up to $4 billion (£3 billion) in damages. I Photo: Tony Webster Wikimedia Commons

The US tech giant won a UK High Court civil claim against Lynch in 2022, accusing him and his former finance director, Sushovan Hussain, of fraud in relation to its $11-billion (£8.37-billion) acquisition of Lynch's software company, Autonomy, in 2011.

HPE is seeking up to $4 billion (£3 billion) in damages, with the judge expected to announce the final sum soon.

Lynch, who was cleared of criminal fraud charges in a separate US trial over the Autonomy case in June, died alongside his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, among seven others when their superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily last month.

Following his death, Lynch’s widow, Angela Bacares, may now be responsible for settling the damages claim in London. HPE stated, “In 2022, an English High Court judge ruled that HPE had substantially succeeded in its civil fraud claims against Lynch and Hussain.

A damages hearing was held in February 2024, and the judge’s decision regarding the damages due to HPE is expected soon. It is HPE’s intention to see the proceedings through to their conclusion.”

The judge has previously indicated that the amount of damages awarded will likely be “substantially less” than HPE initially sought.