UK court rules British tech magnate Mike Lynch's estate and former Autonomy partner owe HP over $1b
Mr Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah,18, died when their luxury yacht, The Bayesian, sank off the coast of Sicily in August last year.
London's High Court has been hearing details of a deal gone wrong between Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Lynch's Autonomy company.
Here's what we know.
Mike Lynch co-founded software company Autonomy in 1996.
He was the firm's chief executive and was often hailed as the UK's answer to Bill Gates.
Mr Lynch was on the board of the BBC and a technology adviser to former British prime minister David Cameron.
He became a British success story in 2011 when he sold Autonomy to US technology giant HP, now known as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE).
That deal is at the heart of the current case.
HP bought Autonomy for $US11.1 billion ($16.9 billion) as part of its strategy to expand its business software products.
Then-chief executive of HP, Leo Apotheker, said at the time the deal would support HP as it moved towards selling services and products to government agencies and businesses, and away from making smartphones and tablets for consumers.
Mr Apotheker was fired before the deal closed.
According to the agreement, Mr Lynch would continue to lead Autonomy and its 2,700 employees.
However, within a year, and amid staff lay-offs at HP, Mr Lynch left the company.
The deal was founded on rocky ground. Autonomy was considered to be overvalued and HP's share prices subsequently tanked.
HP wrote down Autonomy's value by $US8.8 billion within a year of paying $US11.1 billion for it.
In 2015, HP sought $US5 billion in damages from Mr Lynch and former Autonomy chief financial officer Sushovan Hussain in a UK court. It accused the pair of accounting improprieties and inflating the value of the company.
HP alleged that the pair misrepresented Autonomy's revenue.
Mr Lynch always maintained his innocence and blamed HP for failing to integrate Autonomy into the company.
The UK court earlier this week ruled that HP had suffered a loss of nearly 698 million pounds ($1.4 billion) based on the difference between the price it paid and the price it would have paid had Autonomy's "true financial position been correctly presented".
In addition, the court ruled that HP was entitled to another $US47.5 million ($71.9m) for losses suffered by Autonomy group companies relating to hardware sales and other transactions.
Back in 2018, Mr Hussain was found guilty in the US of wire fraud and other crimes related to Autonomy's sale. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
In 2022, the High Court in London found Mr Lynch and Mr Hussain liable for fraud. While it ruled in HP's favour, a judge said the company would receive "considerably less" than $US5 billion.
Mr Lynch intended to appeal the High Court's 2022 ruling, a process which was on hold pending Tuesday's decision on damages.
He was extradited to the US in 2023 to face criminal charges, and he was cleared of fraud charges in 2024.
In 2024, Mr Lynch had prepared a statement on the 2022 ruling that said HP's claim for $5 billion was a "wild overstatement", a spokesperson for his family said.
Another hearing is set down for November, when the court will determine any applications for permission to appeal. It will also consider how to divide the damages to be paid between Mr Lynch's estate and Mr Hussain, with whom HP settled earlier this year.
ABC/Reuters/AP
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