Mike Lynch, as soon as hailed as “Britain’s Invoice Gates,” is now among the many six folks lacking after his luxurious yacht sank in a violent storm off the coast of Sicily. On the time of the catastrophe, Lynch had been making an attempt to shake greater than a decade of authorized entanglements that resulted in June when he was cleared of fraud and conspiracy prices. 

Lynch, 59, rose to prominence within the late Nineteen Nineties with the event of his software program firm, Autonomy, which helped companies rapidly discover data buried in electronic mail and different digital paperwork. In 2011, Lynch offered the enterprise to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion, giving him a $800 million payday and cementing him as one of many U.Okay.’s richest folks. 

However the acquisition was later referred to as one of many “most infamous failed mergers and acquisitions” after HP found alleged accounting points, resulting in Lynch’s firing by HP’s then-CEO, Meg Whitman. HP claimed that Autonomy had used accounting improprieties to bolster its underlying financials forward of the acquisition, prices that Lynch steadfastly denied. 

The case stretched right into a 12-year authorized battle that resulted in June 2024 when a federal courtroom jury in San Francisco delivered not-guilty verdicts.

“I’m wanting ahead to returning to the U.Okay. and getting again to what I like most — my household and innovating in my area,” Lynch stated in a press release after the decision.

Here is what to learn about Lynch. 

What firm did Mike Lynch begin?

Lynch, who earned a PhD in mathematical computing from the U.Okay.’s Cambridge College, first cofounded an organization referred to as Cambridge Neurodynamics, primarily based on the cofounders’ work with sample recognition. The agency used the tech to match fingerprints and automotive license plates, in keeping with a 1997 article in The Guardian.

From there, Lynch cofounded Autonomy in 1996, which relied on a statistical mannequin referred to as Bayesian inference, named after a theorem developed by the 18th century statistician Thomas Bayes. (Lynch’s luxurious yacht was christened the “Bayesian.”)

The corporate tapped into the rising want of companies to type by way of and discover data throughout the huge reams of knowledge created by the growing use of computer systems and digital paperwork.

Autonomy’s regular development throughout its first decade resulted in Lynch being awarded one of many U.Okay’s highest honors, the Workplace of the Most Wonderful Order of the British Empire in 2006.

Lynch instructed The Guardian in 1997 that individuals did not fairly consider {that a} rising tech enterprise may emerge from the U.Okay. 

“I’ve truly heard the remark, ‘England, software program? I assumed you made bone china,'” he instructed the newspaper. 

What occurred after Autonomy’s acquisition by HP?

At first, HP celebrated the acquisition as an enormous coup that may propel the Palo Alto, California, firm down a promising new path, however then rapidly got here to remorse it beneath then-CEO Meg Whitman.

HP claimed it discovered accounting irregularities, and the corporate ended up recognizing $8.8 billion in losses within the Autonomy deal. Whitman finally fired Lynch in 2012, whereas additionally shedding 1000’s of staff as HP’s fortunes sagged. 

All through the previous 12 years, Lynch rejected the allegations. He instructed the Wall Avenue Journal in 2012 that he was “ambushed” by the claims, which he described as “utterly and totally fallacious.”

What occurred with Mike Lynch’s authorized case?

Lynch maintained his innocence whereas testifying earlier this yr earlier than a jury throughout a 2 1/2 month trial in San Francisco. U.S. Justice Division prosecutors referred to as greater than 30 witnesses in an try to show allegations that Lynch engaged in accounting duplicity that bilked billions of {dollars} from HP.

The jury, as famous above, delivered not-guilty verdicts in June, vindicating Lynch, who pledged to return to the U.Okay. and to seek out new methods to innovate. 

Who’s Mike Lynch’s spouse? 

Mike Lynch is married to Angela Bacares, who is likely one of the folks rescued from the Mediterranean after the yacht sank. Lynch and Barares have two daughters. Considered one of them, Hannah, 18, is among the many lacking, in keeping with the BBC. 

Bacares, 57, owns shares in Darktrace, a British cybersecurity firm she and Lynch co-founded, the Solar famous. She sat within the entrance row of the courtroom throughout her husband’s trial, however usually has most well-liked to remain out of the general public eye, the Instances of London reported in July.

“We made the choice that Angela wouldn’t be concerned within the case. She stayed utterly separate. Her focus was the household and youngsters,” Lynch instructed the Instances final month.

— With reporting by the Related Press.