A close friend of Mike Lynch has accused the US software company Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) of a “complete lack of humanity” for suing the tech tycoon’s surviving family.
Patrick Jacob said that the business had “already begun circling like vultures” by confirming that it planned to continue a £3bn fraud lawsuit against Lynch’s estate. Antonio Neri, HPE’s chief executive, said the company had a “fiduciary duty” to pursue damages.
“The chief executive’s recent comments show that HPE has reverted to its old tactics – pursuing a man through a relentless battle in the press and now his widow,” Mr Jacob said.
“Before the bodies are even laid to rest, they’ve already begun circling like vultures, demonstrating a complete lack of humanity. This is nothing short of heartless and distasteful.”
Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among seven people who died after his superyacht, Bayesian, sank off the coast of Sicily last month. Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, survived. The couple have another daughter, Esme.
HPE had pursued Lynch for fraud over the £7bn sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett Packard, a previous incarnation of the company, in 2011.
While Lynch had been cleared of US criminal charges in June over the deal, HPE had won a civil lawsuit in the High Court in 2022. A judge had been expected to award damages in the case by the end of the year, with HPE demanding $4bn (£3bn).
HPE said this week: “It is HPE’s intention to follow the proceedings through to their conclusion.”
Speaking to Bloomberg, Mr Neri said: “Fundamentally we believe the things that took place were not in the interest of the shareholders and we need to see it through.”
Mr Jacob, who runs the financial advisory firm Anthem Corporate Finance, was a close friend of the Lynch family and visited Lynch while he awaited trial in San Francisco. Invoke Capital, Lynch’s investment firm, had nominated him to a board position at the cyber security company Darktrace. He served for a year until voters rejected his election in December due to his association with Lynch.
HPE is able to continue its lawsuit against Mr Lynch’s estate, which will be able to appeal the 2022 judgment after a decision on damages is made. Mr Justice Hildyard said when delivering the judgment in 2022 that damages would be “substantial” but “considerably less than claimed”. HPE had originally claimed $5bn in damages – believed to be significantly more than Lynch’s net worth.
Mr Jacob’s remarks came as Poppy Gustafsson, Darktrace’s chief executive, announced that she would step down as the business prepares for a sale.
Ms Gustafsson, who co-founded the company and had previously worked for Lynch at Autonomy, said it was the “right time to hand over the reins” ahead of the business going private in a £4.3bn deal.
Jill Popelka, who joined the company at the start of the year and took over as chief operating officer at the company earlier this summer, will become chief executive. She has held senior roles at technology companies including Accenture and Snapchat’s owner, Snap.
Darktrace is preparing to leave the London Stock Exchange after a three-year stint on the market. The company agreed to a takeover by private equity firm Thoma Bravo in April.
Lynch had been poised to net £300m from the disposal of the business. He held 7pc of the company in April along with Ms Bacares – although they had sold down some of their stake since.
