Only two weeks after Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah died in a superyacht accident off the coast of Sicily, Hewlett Packard Enterprises has vowed to press ahead with a high court lawsuit against the family of the late British tech entrepreneur.
The Silicon Valley giant said in a statement it would follow the legal proceedings “through to their conclusion.” The firm is seeking damages of up to $4bn.
HP’s case pertains to its $11bn acquisition of Lynch’s startup, Autonomy, back in 2011. Following the deal, HP accused Autonomy’s leadership of fraudulently inflating the company’s value, leading to a 12-year legal battle.
In June, Lynch was acquitted on all charges in a San Francisco court. However, he still wasn’t completely off the hook. In 2022, HP won a separate case against Lynch in the UK that is still ongoing.
A final ruling is expected soon, although the judge overseeing the case wrote in 2022 that he expected final damages to be “substantially less” than the $4bn HP sought.
Will HP really go after Lynch’s widow?
Lynch’s widow, Angela Bacares, was among fifteen others that survived the sinking of the superyacht, the Bayesian, in the early hours of August 19. The widow could now be liable for the damages claim made against her husband.
Benson Varghese, a US criminal defence attorney, told TNW that while HP is “legally justified,” the tech company “must consider the moral and reputational implications of such a move.”
“If HP decides to drop the lawsuit, it might avoid negative publicity and align itself as a compassionate entity. On the flip side, stakeholders might view this as a failure to uphold their fiduciary responsibilities. It’s a tightrope walk.”
“But it’s a delicate balance,” he continued. “In the courtroom of public opinion, empathy can often weigh more than legal rightness.”
Lynch was holidaying in Sicily enjoying his newfound freedom when disaster struck. Italian and British authorities are currently investigating what caused the Bayesian — which one boat expert called “unsinkable” — to plunge to the depths of the Mediterranean in a matter of minutes. Some reports suggest that the boat may have been struck by a waterspout, breaking the mast and causing the vessel to capsize.