Mike Lynch | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Lynch in 2014 | |
| Born | Michael Richard Lynch (1965-06-16)16 June 1965 Ilford, London, England |
| Died | 19 August 2024(2024-08-19) (aged 59) Mediterranean Sea, offPorticello, Sicily, Italy |
| Education | Bancroft's School |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge (MA,PhD) |
| Known for | Co-foundingAutonomy Corporation |
| Spouse | Angela Bacares |
| Children | 2 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Software engineering |
| Thesis | Adaptive Techniques in Signal Processing and Connectionist Models (1990) |
| Doctoral advisor | Peter Rayner |
Michael Richard Lynch (16 June 1965 – 19 August 2024) was a British technology entrepreneur who co-foundedAutonomy Corporation, Invoke Capital andDarktrace. He had various other roles, including in an advisory capacity.
Following an undergraduate degree, aPhD andpostdoctoral research at theUniversity of Cambridge, Lynch applied his research inmachine learning to set up software companies and become a major figure inSilicon Fen. He was described in the press as the British equivalent of the American businessmanBill Gates, with an estimated worth of £852 million in 2023.
The sale of Autonomy toHewlett-Packard in 2011 led to accusations of fraud and resulted in civil litigation in the UK in 2019. The case was decided largely in favour of Hewlett-Packard. In 2023, Lynch was extradited to the United States to face criminal charges. He went on trial in San Francisco in March 2024 and in June was found not guilty on all counts.
Lynch was celebrating his acquittal with a cruise on his family's superyacht,Bayesian, when it sank in a storm off the coast ofSicily on 19 August 2024. Lynch, his daughter and five others died.
Lynch was born inIlford,London Borough of Redbridge, on 16 June 1965[1] and grew up nearChelmsford inEssex.[2] His mother was a nurse fromCounty Tipperary and his father a firefighter fromCounty Cork in Ireland.[3]
Aged 11, he won ascholarship to study atBancroft's School, a private school inWoodford, London.[4] He was later the lead patron of the Bancroft's Foundation, which was established to providemeans tested scholarships to able students regardless of family income.[5] His first computer was aBBC Micro which he bought for £400, raising the money by doing odd jobs.[6] From Bancroft's he went on to study theNatural Science Tripos atChrist's College at theUniversity of Cambridge.[2] After graduating he did postgraduate research inartificial neural networks and was awarded aPhD in 1990 for a thesis onsignal processing, supervised by Peter Rayner.[7] He subsequently undertook aresearch fellowship in adaptivepattern recognition.[8]
Lynch set up his first company in the late 1980s, while he was studying for his PhD. Lynett Systems Ltd was financed with a £2,000 loan negotiated in a bar, and produced designs and audio products including synthesisers and asampler for theAtari ST.[9][10] In 1991, he founded Cambridge Neurodynamics, which specialised in computer-basedfingerprint recognition.[9] There were threecorporate spin-offs from Cambridge Neurodynamics:
In 1996, Lynch foundedAutonomy, a search software company, withDavid Tabizel and Richard Gaunt.[9] With Lynch aschief executive officer (CEO), Autonomy became one of the UK'stop 100 public companies, and a leading company inSilicon Fen.[12][4] Lynch was described in the press as the British equivalent of the American businessmanBill Gates.[13][14] In October 2011,Hewlett-Packard bought Autonomy for more than $11 billion (£8.6 billion).[12] Lynch made an estimated $800 million from the sale.[12]
After the sale, Lynch founded aventure capital firm, Invoke Capital.[4] One of the first companies backed by Invoke Capital was cybersecurity firmDarktrace.[9] Invoke Capital became the biggest shareholder of Darktrace, with Lynch and his wife Angela Bacares being the second biggest, holding shares worth nearly £200 million. Many of the staff at Darktrace, including its CEO, had moved from Autonomy. Lynch was a member of the board until 2018 and continued as a member of the advisory council until 2021. He was a member of the Darktrace science and technology council until February 2023. As well as having to deal with questions about Lynch's involvement, Darktrace had to counter scepticism about its technology.[4][15]
Other technology companies backed by Invoke Capital include Featurespace, which specialises in software to detect and preventfraud andfinancial crime.[16] Invoke Capital has invested in thelegal technology firm Luminance, established in collaboration withSlaughter and May.[17]Sophia Genetics, a Swiss medical data company, is also backed by Invoke Capital.[18]
Lynch held a number of positions on boards and committees. When he was charged with fraud in the United States he resigned from his role as a government advisor on theCouncil for Science and Technology and fromRoyal Society committees. He had previously served as a board member of Cambridge Enterprise,Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, theBBC, theBritish Library,Nesta, and theFrancis Crick Institute.[19]
In November 2012, Hewlett-Packard announced aUS$8.8 billion (£5.5 billion)writedown of assets following their purchase of Autonomy due to "serious accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations" which occurred before the acquisition and artificially inflated the value of Autonomy. Lynch denied the allegations.[20] The allegations were investigated by theUK Serious Fraud Office, who announced in January 2015 that it was ending its investigation with no action due to insufficient evidence in respect of some aspects of the allegations, while other aspects were ceded to the United States authorities.[21] In November 2018, Lynch was indicted for fraud in the US along with Stephen Chamberlain, former vice president of finance at Autonomy. Earlier in 2018 Sushovan Hussain, Autonomy's formerchief financial officer (CFO), had been found guilty of fraud in the US and sentenced to five years in prison.[22][23]
In March 2019, Hewlett-Packard brought a civil action for fraud in theHigh Court in London. The action alleged that CFO Hussain and founder Lynch "artificially inflated Autonomy's reported revenues, revenue growth and gross margins". The case was heard byMr Justice Hildyard sitting for 93 days over a period of nine months at theRolls Building.[23][24] The judge delivered his conclusions in January 2022, ruling that Hewlett-Packard had substantially succeeded in their claims. Damages were to be decided later, but the judge said they were likely to be considerably less than the $5 billion claimed by Hewlett Packard.[23][24] In July 2025, Hildyard ruled that Hussain and the estate of Lynch owed Hewlett-Packard about £740 million. Hussain had settled with Hewlett-Packard in May 2025.[25]
While the civil trial was taking place in London, the American authorities were seeking Lynch's extradition to face criminal charges of conspiracy and fraud in the United States. Through his lawyers, Lynch said he "vigorously rejects all the allegations". As a formality, he submitted himself for arrest in February 2020, and was released on bail of £10 million byWestminster Magistrates' Court.[26] The case created a debate about the workings of theAnglo-American extradition treaty of 2003. Five formercabinet ministers signed a letter toThe Times arguing against the extradition, andDavid Davis MP said in parliament that it was an attempt by the American authorities to "exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction".[27][28]
In July 2021, adistrict judge ruled at Westminster Magistrates' Court that Lynch could be extradited to the US.[29] Lynch applied for a judicial review; the application was rejected by High Court JudgeMr Justice Swift in January 2022 andHome SecretaryPriti Patel approved his extradition.[30][24] During the extradition proceedings Lynch was represented byAlex BailinKC, who argued that Lynch should face trial in the UK.[27] After a further appeal failed, Lynch was flown to the US in May 2023, and held underhouse arrest in San Francisco to await trial.[31]
Lynch and Chamberlain went on trial in San Francisco on 18 March 2024. Lynch was charged with 16 counts ofwire fraud,securities fraud and conspiracy, while Chamberlain faced 15 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy. Both pleaded not guilty.[32] The court heard evidence and arguments over the course of 11 weeks, and one count of securities fraud was dropped. The jury retired for deliberation on 4 June.[33] On 6 June 2024, Lynch and Chamberlain were found not guilty of all charges.[34] Chamberlain died on 20 August 2024, three days after he was hit by a car while out jogging inStretham.[35]
Lynch was appointedOrder of the British Empire (OBE) for services to enterprise in the2006 New Year Honours.[4] In June 2008, he was elected aFellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng).[36] In 2011, he was named as the most influential person in UK IT byComputer Weekly.[37] In 2014, Lynch was elected aFellow of the Royal Society (FRS)[38] and appointed aDeputy Lieutenant of theCounty of Suffolk.[39] He wasLady Margaret Beaufort HonoraryFellow of Christ's College, Cambridge.[2]
Lynch was married to Angela Bacares and they had two daughters.[4] In 2023, theSunday Times Rich List estimated the couple's net worth at £852 million.[40] Lynch's entry inWho's Who lists his recreations as jazz saxophone and preservingrare breeds.[41] He kept a herd ofRed Poll cattle on his Loudham Hall estate atPettistree, inEast Suffolk.[42]
In August 2024, Lynch celebrated his acquittal in the San Francisco trial with a cruise on the familysuperyacht,Bayesian. He was joined by his wife and daughter and nine invited guests, including two lawyers from his defense team. In the early hours of 19 August, the yacht sank off the coast ofSicily, outside the port ofPorticello, during a powerful storm, with 22 people on board.[43] Lynch, his teenage daughter Hannah, four guests, and one member of the crew died.[44] Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, was among the 15 persons who were rescued.[43] Lynch's body was recovered by theItalian Coast Guard on 22 August.[43] Italian authorities opened an investigation into the sinking.[45]
