Mike Lynch, the Irish-born founder of British software group Autonomy, who is on trial in the US over alleged fraud at the business. PhotograPH: Yui Mok / PAIrish-born tech entrepreneur and former Autonomy founder and chief executive Mike Lynch told jurors in San Francisco federal court that he was not involved in the transactions at the heart of a criminal case alleging he took part in one of the biggest fraud cases ever to hit Silicon Valley.
US prosecutors at the trial, which started in March, have portrayed Mr Lynch as the driving force behind a fraudulent deal in which HP attempted to reinvent itself as a software company only to write down Autonomy’s value by $8.8 billion and lay off thousands of employees.
Mr Lynch was fired by HP in 2012 over the underperformance of the business. In 2022 a UK judge in a civil fraud case found Mr Lynch liable for defrauding HP. He was extradited to the US last year to face federal criminal charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty, and has been living under house arrest in San Francisco.
Mr Lynch said Autonomy served more than 20,000 customers across more than 20 countries from the start of 2009, with the allegedly fraudulent transactions at issue in the trial representing only a “small” fraction of them. Mr Lynch said he had not been aware of any of these deals.Mr Lynch also distanced himself from Autonomy’s former chief financial officer, Sushovan Hussain. Hussain was sentenced to five years in a US prison for his role in the fraud in 2019.
Mr Lynch’s wife was present in the courtroom. His two daughters, he said, could not attend as they were sitting university exams. At one point, as Mr Lynch discussed his farmhouse in the English countryside, he turned to his interest in livestock.