Mike Lynch, former CEO of Autonomy.
Hollie Adams | Bloomberg via Getty Images
LONDON – British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch is set to be extradited to the United States to face criminal charges related to the sale of his company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard, following a ruling by Britain’s Home Secretary Priti. Patel.
Lynch sold his software startup Autonomy to HP in 2011 for $11.7 billion.
A year later, HP announced $8.8 billion in revenue from the company, claiming that “accounting irregularities” had caused the company to overpay.
Earlier on Friday, a British judge ruled in favor of HP in a civil lawsuit against Lynch for claims he conspired to enhance the value of Autonomy before it was acquired by HP. . would be significantly less than the $5 billion the company sought.
On Friday, the UK Home Office said it had decided to grant the US’s request to extradite Lynch. Patel had until midnight to make a decision. Lynch, who denies the charges, can appeal the ruling. His lawyers say he plans to do so.
Lynch, 56, was formerly known as one of the UK’s most successful tech entrepreneurs. He was once described by the British press as “Britain’s Bill Gates”.
But claims that Lynch artificially inflated his company’s value before sealing the HP takeover tarnished much of that image.
US authorities want him to face securities fraud and money transfer charges related to the HP-Autonomy deal. Last year, a judge said Lynch should be extradited to the US and given Patel two months to approve the order.
The news is likely to cover Darktrace, the UK cybersecurity company in which Lynch has a stake. Several executives at Darktrace previously worked for Autonomy. For his part, Darktrace said Lynch is not involved in the day-to-day operations of the company.
Darktrace listed in London last year, and the company’s shares have since risen 60%. Its launch is seen as a major victory in the UK’s attempt to attract more high-growth tech startups to listings in the country following its withdrawal from the UK. European Union.
