Mike Lynch's estate bankrupt after £700 million fraud ruling

Mike Lynch's estate is now effectively bankrupt after being told to pay Hewlett Packard £700million in a court case over the late British tycoon's former company. A judge in London said HP was owed the money from the estate of Mr Lynch and his former business partner over its acquisition of their software firm Autonomy.

HP is trying to recoup its losses from Dr Lynch - who died a year ago when his luxury yacht sank off Sicily - and Autonomy's ex-chief financial officer Sushovan Hussain. The High Court ruling comes after seven people died in the Bayesian disaster on August 19 last year including billionaire Dr Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah, 18. It means Dr Lynch would be expected to pass nothing to his widow Angela Bacares – who survived the disaster - and surviving daughter Esme, unless there is an appeal. The California-based technology giant sued Dr Lynch and Mr Hussain, accusing them of masterminding an elaborate fraud to inflate the value of Autonomy, which HP bought for £8billion in 2011 before the deal spectacularly unravelled.

HP wrote down Autonomy's value by £6.5billion within a year and brought a £4billion lawsuit against Dr Lynch and Mr Hussain, with a judge ruling in HP's favour in 2022. Mr Lynch, once hailed as Britain's answer to Bill Gates, had always maintained his innocence and blamed HP for failing to integrate Autonomy into the company.

He was acquitted of criminal charges over the deal in the US and had intended to appeal the High Court's 2022 ruling, a process which had been on hold pending today's decision on damages. Judge Robert Hildyard ruled HP sustained losses of over £646million in relation to the difference between what HP paid for Autonomy and what HP would have paid 'had Autonomy's true financial position been correctly presented'.

Hilyard also said HP was entitled to another £52million in relation to 'personal claims for deceit and/or misrepresentation against Dr Lynch and Mr Hussain', plus another £35million in relation to losses suffered by group companies. HP said at a hearing last year that it was seeking up to £3billion. Mr Hussain settled with HP earlier this year. Meanwhile inquest proceedings in the UK are looking at the deaths of Dr Lynch and his daughter Hannah, as well as Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer (pictured right), 70, and his wife, Judy Bloomer (pictured left), 71, who were all British nationals.

Lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda and Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas (pictured), 59, an onboard chef, were also among the dead. Fifteen people were rescued, including Dr Lynch's widow Ms Bacares, who has her own assets which are legally separate from her late husband's estate – and are therefore not impacted by the ruling. The recovery mission to bring up the wreckage of the vessel concluded after the 184ft hull and 236ft mast, as well as deck furniture and other loose items, were delivered to Italian authorities last month in Palermo. The hull was recovered on June 21 and transported around 12 miles to Termini Imerese the next day by one of the most powerful floating sea cranes in Europe.

On June 23 it was lifted into heavy steel supports on the quayside, which had tarpaulin underneath to prevent pollution. The cradle was custom-designed to fit the shape of the hull and built in the Netherlands. The mast had been detached from the hull for the recovery and was on the seabed. It was salvaged using inflatable lifting balloons and delivered to port on June 25, along with loose items that may have moved away from the vessel during the past ten months.

Remote-controlled submersible equipment was used to locate the debris in the vicinity of the Bayesian site. The vessel was originally expected to be raised in May but salvage efforts were delayed after a diver died during underwater work, prompting greater use of remote-controlled equipment. About 70 specialist personnel were mobilised to Porticello from across Europe to work on the recovery operation.