UK Edition
Ex-HP chief regretted ‘under the bus’ jibe, Autonomy trial told
Meg Whitman, the former chief executive of HP, accused Mike Lynch of “completely unacceptable conduct” in her first appearance in Britain's biggest fraud trial.
Ms Whitman, who took control of HP during its disastrous $11bn (£8.6bn) acquisition of British software company Autonomy in 2011, said Dr Lynch, who she sacked a few months later, had informed her the company was set to miss revenue targets just one day before it was required to report its results.
In her first testimony as a key witness in the $5bn civil fraud trial, she said his behaviour was “completely unacceptable conduct for any leader”.
US technology firm HP accuses Dr Lynch and Autonomy's finance chief Sushovan Hussain of inflating Autonomy's valuation ahead of its sale, leading to a multi billion dollar write-down. The ongoing case represents Britain’s biggest civil fraud case.
Ms Whitman was a member of HP’s board at the time of its deal to buy Autonomy, later taking over as chief executive months later after its former boss, Léo Apotheker, was forced out.
Responding to Robert Miles QC, representing Dr Lynch, Ms Whitman told a packed courtroom it had been “impossible for the board to understand the fraud that was at work” in the run-up to the deal.
She said Autonomy was in fact “a much smaller, much less profitable company” than the board had been led to believe by Dr Lynch and his team.
Autonomy’s lawyer pressed Ms Whitman on how HP had valued its deal for Autonomy, and how HP had attributed a valuation to its write-down.
A lawyer for Dr Lynch claimed Meg Whitman and Autonomy’s board “shirked responsibility” and threw former executives “under the bus”.
She was accused of “protecting herself” while letting the company’s former boss Dr Lynch take the fall for the failed deal.
Mr Miles also quoted from an email Ms Whitman had sent where she said she was “happy to throw Léo [Apokether] under the bus”. Ms Whitman said she regretted the remark. Mr Miles said “that's exactly what you did to Dr Lynch.”
Ms Whitman, a former eBay executive and Republican governor candidate, was at turns cheery with Autonomy’s legal counsel before snapping in on points she disagreed with, engaging in lengthy back-and-forths with Autonomy’s QC. Mr Miles suggested she was “finding it hard to answer the question”.
The trial continues.