Hewlett Packard has confirmed it will continue to pursue the family of Mike Lynch for up to $4 billion in damages, in a bid to end a 13-year legal battle.
The Silicon Valley tech group has been at odds with Lynch since 2011, when an $11.7 billion takeover of his Autonomy group failed. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) wrote down the value of the deal by $8.8 billion, citing “accounting irregularities.”
HPE, formerly known as HP, won a civil lawsuit against Lynch in the United Kingdom in 2022 after a judge ruled he was likely aware of accounting fraud at the company.
In June, he was acquitted of fraud in a US criminal trial and he wanted to use this verdict to appeal the civil judgment.
However, Lynch died on the day his wife Angela Bacares died. Bayesian superyacht in August after the boat was caught in a storm. Bacares is expected to inherit her late husband’s battle with the tech group.
There was speculation that HPE would be deterred from suing Lynch’s family for damages because of the negative publicity such a move could create.
Robin Henry, Partner and Head of Dispute Resolution Services at Collyer Bristow, said Fortune that HPE was “facing a dilemma” over whether it would be prepared to accept criticism if it continued with the proceedings.
However, HPE has now confirmed that it is continuing with the final stages of the investigation.
“In 2022, an English High Court judge ruled that HPE was substantially successful in its civil fraud claims against Dr Lynch and Mr Hussain,” an HPE spokesperson told Fortune.
“A hearing on damages was held in February 2024 and the judge’s decision on the damages HPE is owed will be forthcoming in due course. It is HPE’s intention to follow the proceedings to the end.”
After the UK judge ruled in HPE’s favour, he indicated that the damages would be significantly less than the $4 billion HPE was seeking.
The total value of Lynch’s estate is unknown, but it’s unlikely to be anywhere near $4 billion. He reportedly raised £500 million (around $800 million at the time) for the Autonomy deal. He founded venture capital fund Invoke Capital in 2012 and owned a 3% stake in UK cybersecurity group Darktrace at the time of his death.
As a publicly traded U.S. company, HPE has a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of its shareholders. The company will be aware of this after being sued by shareholders following its acquisition of Autonomy.
The process of prosecuting a suspect’s family after they die is a macabre subject, but legally it is quite simple.
“Following the tragic death of Mike Lynch, his executors are ‘stepping into his shoes’,” Oliver Embley, partner at Wedlake Bell, told Fortune last week.
“In the UK, all legal proceedings against a person survive his death on his estate. Any judgment already given, as in the case of HPE’s claim in the High Court against Mr Lynch, is binding on his estate.”
That means Bacares, who is grieving for Lynch and their now 18-year-old daughter Hannah, will likely take over when the judge determines damages later this year.
This story originally appeared on Fortune.com
