Tech star Mike Lynch acquitted of fraud in €10.1bn deal with Hewlett Packard

The jury acquitted Mr Lynch on all 15 felony counts facing him.

British tech magnate Mike Lynch has been acquitted of fraud. Picture: Yui Mok/PA

Mike Lynch, once hailed as Britain’s king of technology, has been cleared of charges alleging he orchestrated a fraud and conspiracy leading up to an $11 (€10.1bn) deal that turned into a costly albatross for Silicon Valley pioneer Hewlett Packard (HP).

The not-guilty verdicts reached on Thursday by a federal court jury in San Francisco followed an 11-week criminal trial that delved into the history of HP’s 2011 acquisition of Autonomy, a business software that Mr Lynch founded and then oversaw as chief executive in Britain.