Mike Lynch (businessman)

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Mike Lynch
OBE DL FRS FREng
Mike Lynch in 2014, portrait via the Royal Society
Born (1965-06-16) 16 June 1965 (age 58)[3]
Ilford, Essex
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge (MA, PhD)
Known forAutonomy Corporation Invoke Capital Darktrace Luminance
Awards
Scientific career
Institutions
ThesisAdaptive techniques in signal processing and connectionist models (1990)
Doctoral advisorPeter J.W. Rayner[4][5][6]

Michael Richard Lynch OBE DL FRS FREng (born 16 June 1965)[3] is a British entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of Autonomy Corporation and the founder of Invoke Capital. Mike Lynch additionally became a co-founder, alongside Invoke Capital, of cybersecurity company Darktrace.[7][8] Mike Lynch also has several other roles, including membership of the Council for Science and Technology which advises the UK government.

His entrepreneurship is associated with Silicon Fen. Lynch is known for his work applying techniques from signal processing, machine learning and pattern recognition to unstructured information.[9][10][11] Lynch has been accused of fraudulently inflating the value of Autonomy prior to its sale to Hewlett-Packard, which has resulted in litigation and a request for his extradition to the US.

Early life and education

Lynch was born in Ilford, Essex in 1965 and grew up near Chelmsford, Essex. His mother was a nurse from Tipperary and his father a fireman from Cork.[12]

In 1976, aged 11, he won a scholarship to Bancroft's School, Woodford.[13] From there he went to Christ's College, Cambridge to study Natural Sciences. He combined mathematics, biological and physical sciences, taking the combination of advanced physics, mathematics and biochemistry in the IB Tripos. For part II, he chose electrical sciences where he first met Peter Rayner,[4][5][6][14] his mentor in the signal processing laboratory of the engineering department. After graduating he went on to do a PhD in signal processing[15] and communications research at the University of Cambridge, and then undertook a research fellowship in adaptive pattern recognition.[16]

Entrepreneurial career

In the late 1980's, Lynch’s founded his first company, Lynett Systems Ltd. which designed electronic synthesizers. The company produced designs and audio products for the music industry. One of his inventions included a sampler for the Atari ST known as the Lynex.[17]

In 1991 he set up Cambridge Neurodynamics, which specialized in computer-based fingerprint recognition.[18]

In 1991, Lynch was a co-founded of Neurascript, a company which focused on software that delivered the recognition, extraction, indexing, classification and data capture of information from business documents.  Neurascript was sold to Dicom Group PLC during a trade sale.[19]

In 1996 Lynch co-founded Autonomy Corporation.[20] and he served Autonomy as CEO. During this time Autonomy acquired Dremedia, Virage ($13m), Verity ($500m), Zantaz ($375m) and Interwoven ($606m).[21] In 2000, Autonomy Corporation was listed on Easdaq, Nasdaq and the London stock exchange. Autonomy Corporation became a FTSE100 company by 6 December.[22]

In 2004, using the technology developed at Autonomy Corporation, Lynch founded Blinkx, a company which focused on providing video search services in the consumer internet sector.  Blinkx went public on the London Stock Exchange (AIM) in May, 2007 with a valuation of $1Bn.[23]

In 2008, Lynch invested in Featurespace, a company set up by Professor Bill Fitzgerald.[24][25][26] Featurespace originally focused on the development of software that detects anomalous transactions. Shortly after, Featurespace converted from a consultancy into a technology company and began developing a new form of data analysis called “adaptive behavioural analytics”.[27] FeatureSpace expanded by 624% and employs 320 people across Cambridge, Singapore and Atlanta.[28][29]

In October 2011 Autonomy was sold to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion.[9] In May 2012, HP fired Mike Lynch[30] and later recorded a writedown of around $8.8 billion related to the acquisition due to "extensive accounting errors and misrepresentations" at Autonomy.[31] Lynch faced a civil case in the UK[32] and charges in the US related to the allegations.[33]

In February 2013, Lynch raised $1 billion through his Invoke Capital fund to invest in up and coming British technology companies.[34] In September 2013, Invoke Capital participated in the funding of American Swiss biotechnology company, Sophia Genetics, which provides genomic and radiomic analysis for hospitals.[35]

In 2014, Lynch assisted in raising $13.75M in Series B financing in a round led by his company Invoke Capital. Other financiers included Swisscom and Endeavour Vision. Following this investment, the company was ranked among the 50 smartest companies by the MIT Technology Review in 2017.[36]

In September 2013, Lynch announced Invoke had made its first investment, putting up to $20m into Darktrace (alongside Hoxton Ventures and Talis Capital) which uses the same Bayesian mathematics as Autonomy[37] and describes itself as "the world's first behavioural cyber defence platform."[38][39][40] As well as financial support, Invoke Capital also provided commercial and technical expertise and personnel, with around 15 Invoke employees moving over to Darktrace in 2013, including CEO Poppy Gustafsson and CTO Jack Stockdale.[7]

On 14 September 2016, Invoke Capital announced its investment, in collaboration with Slaughter and May, in legal technology company Luminance.[41]

In April 2021, Following its confirmation to float, Darktrace was listed on the London Stock Exchange with an initial public offering (IPO) of Shares at 250 pence per Share.[42]  That day, Darktrace shares climbed to more than 358p, up 43% from its IPO price,[43][44] and peaked at nearly 1000p five months later, but by 24 January 2022 had fallen back to 362p amid allegations from analysts its products were "snake oil".[45]

Other interests

He was a member of the board of Cambridge Enterprise,[46] and a member of the Council for Science and Technology.[47] He was also a member of the Council of the Foundation for Science and Technology[48] and a Hub Mentor in the Enterprise Hub of the Royal Academy of Engineering.[49] Lynch was a trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew,[50] and a member of the board of the Create the Change Campaign at the Crick Institute, for Cancer Research UK.[51]

He was a non-executive director of Featurespace[52][53] and Blinkx plc.[54]

He has previously served as a non-executive director to the board of the BBC,[16] on the board of the British Library,[55] and as a trustee of the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA), where he was chairman of their investment committee.[56]

Awards, honours and media coverage

In 1996, Lynch was given an achievement award by the Institution of Electrical Engineers.[57]

In 2000,Time Digital Europe included Lynch in their Digital 25 list of notable technology figures.[58]

Lynch was awarded an OBE in the 2006 New Year Honours.[59]

In June 2008, he was elected a Fellow[1] of the Royal Academy of Engineering.[60]

In 2014 he was made a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Suffolk.[61]

The Financial Times has described Lynch as "the doyen of European software".[62] PC Advisor has called him "Britain's most successful technology entrepreneur".[63] In a 2009 profile in the Sunday Times, it was suggested in passing that Lynch is the nearest thing Britain has to Bill Gates.[64][65][66]

Disputes

Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, once claimed that "Mr Lynch has a very poor memory or he is lying" about activities that took place in a meeting in April 2011.[67] Lynch and investment banker Frank Quattrone contest Ellison's account of this meeting.[68]

See also: Hewlett-Packard § Takeover of Autonomy

On 20 November 2012, Hewlett-Packard announced a writedown of assets following their purchase of Autonomy due to "disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations", which occurred before the acquisition.[69] The total writedown amounted to $8.8bn of the purchase cost of more than $10bn.[70] Lynch has contested these irregularities.[71] Autonomy's financial statement auditor Deloitte has publicly supported Lynch's opinion.[72]

HP's claims were investigated at HP's request by the UK Serious Fraud Office, but the SFO announced in January 2015 that it was ending its investigation with no action due to insufficient evidence.[73]

On 29 November 2018 Lynch was indicted for fraud in relation to the 2011 deal with HP.[74] In February 2021, a British court began considering whether the UK should extradite Lynch to California to face charges brought by the US Department of Justice.[75][76] Lynch is contesting extradition having said that he "vigorously rejects all allegations against him."[77][78][79] The court case has gained significant legal notoriety as it has created a wider community discussion in relation to the UK’s legal sovereignty, case jurisdiction and the legal basis for Lynch’s extradition.[80][81][82] In July 2021 a British judge ruled that he could be extradited to the US.[83] Lynch's extradition was temporarily halted in December 2021 after Lynch filed a judicial review; the High Court dismissed the review on 26 January 2022,[84][85] and the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, approved the extradition order on 28 January 2022.[86] He was represented in court by Alex Bailin KC.[87]

In March 2019, HP brought a civil action for fraud in the UK courts. The action alleged that Autonomy CFO Sushovan Hussain and founder Lynch "artificially inflated Autonomy's reported revenues, revenue growth and gross margins".[88] The case was heard in a trial lasting 93 days, with Lynch present in the witness box for 22 days, making it one of the longest cross-examinations in British legal history.[89] In January 2022, the High Court in London ruled that HP had "substantially won" its civil case against Lynch and Hussain.[90]

Personal life

Lynch is married and has two daughters.[91] His entry in Who's Who lists his recreations as jazz saxophone and preserving rare breeds.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b "List of Fellows".
  2. ^ "Dr Michael Lynch OBE FREng FRS". Archived from the original on 2 May 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d LYNCH. "LYNCH, Michael Richard". Who's Who. Vol. 2015 (online edition via Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Unknown parameter |othernames= ignored (help) (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) (subscription required)
  4. ^ a b "The Quest for Meaning". Wired. February 2000.
  5. ^ a b Rayner, P. J.; Lynch, M. R. (1990). "Complexity reduction in Volterra connectionist modelling by consideration of output mapping". International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing. pp. 885–888. doi:10.1109/ICASSP.1990.115982.
  6. ^ a b Rayner, P. J. W.; Lynch, M. R. (1989). "A new connectionist model based on a non-linear adaptive filter". International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing. pp. 1191–1194. doi:10.1109/ICASSP.1989.266647.
  7. ^ a b "After Autonomy". The Economist. 21 September 2013. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  8. ^ Hurley, James. "The Times Tech Summit: The markets have 'misunderstood' Darktrace tech". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  9. ^ a b Profile: Mike Lynch The Guardian, 19 August 2011
  10. ^ "Good Listener". Director magazine. May 2011. Archived from the original on 25 October 2011.
  11. ^ "Britain's first software billionaire". salon.com. July 2000. (interview)
  12. ^ Business big shot: Mike Lynch of Autonomy The Times, 8 July 2008
  13. ^ "OBA President's Report - 2009" (PDF).
  14. ^ RAYNER. "RAYNER, Prof. Peter John Wynn". Who's Who. Vol. 2015 (online edition via Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Unknown parameter |othernames= ignored (help) (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) (subscription required)
  15. ^ Lynch, Michael Richard (1990). Adaptive techniques in signal processing and connectionist models (DPhil thesis). University of Cambridge.
  16. ^ a b "BBC - Press Office - BBC appoints Executive Board". Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  17. ^ Shead, Sam. "The insane life of billionaire Mike Lynch, who has been described as Britain's Bill Gates". Insider. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  18. ^ Security Group Seminar Archived 2 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine University of Cambridge
  19. ^ "DICOM Group plc: Acquisition of Neurascript. Expands Core Information Capture Technology Portfolio and Enterprise Product Development Capabilities". Bobsguide. 25 October 2004. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  20. ^ The Kindness of Strangers VNU Net
  21. ^ Autonomy to buy Zantaz for $375m, place shares Reuters, 3 July 2007
  22. ^ "Autonomy to list on London Stock Exchange". The Guardian. 10 October 2000. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  23. ^ Ghosh, Sam Shead, Shona. "Inside the life of Mike Lynch, who sold his search startup to HP for $11 billion and was charged with fraud". Business Insider. Retrieved 1 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Aglionby, John (10 June 2014). "Lynch backs software company that seeks to predict behaviour". Financial Times. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  25. ^ ""Behavioural analytics" company Featurespace raises £3m". UKTN (UK Tech News). 12 June 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  26. ^ "Featurespace's CEO Martina King on its mission, growth and the impact of AI". Cambridge Independent. 25 April 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  27. ^ "Anti-fraud tech firm Featurespace receives $32 million funding". www.consultancy.lat. 20 February 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  28. ^ "Featurespace 2020 UK Fast 50 case study". UK Technology Fast 50. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  29. ^ Titcomb, James (29 May 2016). "Cambridge AI fraud detection group raises £6.2m". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  30. ^ HP fires Mike Lynch PCR, 25 May 2012
  31. ^ Garside, Juliette; correspondent, telecoms (3 February 2014). "Autonomy made 80% less UK profit than stated, Hewlett-Packard finds". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  32. ^ "Autonomy founder Mike Lynch faces UK high court and fresh charges in US". The Guardian. 24 March 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  33. ^ Jolly, Jasper (12 December 2019). "Autonomy founder Mike Lynch accused of lying in fraud trial". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  34. ^ Ben Martin (9 February 2013). "Mike Lynch raises $1bn for technology investment". The Daily Telegraph.
  35. ^ Aglionby, John (10 June 2014). "Lynch backs software company that seeks to predict behaviour". Financial Times. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  36. ^ "What are the 50 Smartest Companies?". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  37. ^ Fildes, Nic. "The secret's out: top GCHQ spook to head Darktrace". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  38. ^ "British tech entrepreneur Lynch invests in cybersecurity firm backed by ex-MI5 boss". The Daily Telegraph. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  39. ^ "After Autonomy". The Economist. 21 September 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  40. ^ "Darktrace | Investors". darktrace.com. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  41. ^ "Slaughter and May teams up with Mike Lynch-backed AI document analytics provider Luminance – Legal IT Insider". legaltechnology.com. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  42. ^ "What does Darktrace's listing on the London Stock Exchange mean for the UK tech sector? | Business Leader News". Business Leader. 5 May 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  43. ^ Browne, Ryan (30 April 2021). "Darktrace shares soar 43% in London IPO as investors shrug off Deliveroo flop". CNBC. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  44. ^ "Darktrace shares soar by 40% on London stock market debut". The Guardian. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  45. ^ Sweney, Mark (25 January 2022). "'Snake oil': doubts loom over tech firm Darktrace's high-octane sales strategy". The Guardian.
  46. ^ Your Name Here. "News Archive - Cambridge Enterprise". Cambridge Enterprise. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  47. ^ Members appointed to Council for Science & Technology 10 Downing Street
  48. ^ "Foundation for Science and Technology". www.foundation.org.uk. Archived from the original on 11 October 2013.
  49. ^ "Enterprise Hub - Mentors". Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  50. ^ "Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew". Archived from the original on 6 January 2014.
  51. ^ Meet the team Cancer Research UK
  52. ^ "Mike Lynch among Featurespace investors". Growth Business. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  53. ^ "Building fraud-detection firm into real deal". independent. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  54. ^ "Shareholder Information". Blinkx. Archived from the original on 23 September 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  55. ^ "Mike Lynch". British Library. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  56. ^ "Mike Lynch". NESTA. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  57. ^ Institute of Engineering Recipients of the Achievement Awards Archived 12 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  58. ^ "Mike Lynch - Autonomy" Time Europe
  59. ^ MBE for Soham murders detective BBC News, 31 December 2005
  60. ^ "Royal Academy of Engineering" (PDF).
  61. ^ "Deputy Lieutenants of the County of Suffolk". Archived from the original on 30 March 2014.
  62. ^ "Dicom snaps up Neurascript". Financial Times. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  63. ^ The Thoughts of Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch PC Advisor
  64. ^ James Ashton "Autonomy is at the heart of a new data revolution" Sunday Times, 1 February 2009
  65. ^ Profile: Mike Lynch, Autonomy founder The Telegraph, 16 October 2011
  66. ^ Mike Lynch sells his Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard Archived 26 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine Real Business
  67. ^ "Larry Ellison of Oracle Calls Autonomy CEO Lying Liar". Gizmodo. 30 September 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  68. ^ "Quattrone blasts Ellison, says Autonomy is right". The Register. 30 September 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  69. ^ "Open letter from Mike Lynch to the shareholders of Hewlett-Packard". Open Letter. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  70. ^ "HP takes $8.8bn hit over Autonomy". Financial Times. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  71. ^ Hardy, Quentin (26 November 2012). "Mike Lynch, Autonomy's Founder, Says He's Baffled by H.P.'s Claims - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  72. ^ Thomas, Daniel (17 February 2014). "HP/Autonomy investigation: Tangled web of hardware and resellers". Financial Times. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  73. ^ "Autonomy HP sale investigation by Serious Fraud Office closes". BBC. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  74. ^ "Ex-Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch Indicted for Fraud Tied to 2011 HP Deal". Bloomberg. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  75. ^ Corfield, Gareth. "Autonomy founder Mike Lynch's US extradition hearing begun in February 2021". www.theregister.com.
  76. ^ Browning, Jonathan. "A Long Legal War Over a $10 Billion Takeover Heads to a Close". Bloomberg.
  77. ^ "UK tech giant founder arrested over US extradition". BBC. 5 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  78. ^ Kollewe, Julia (5 February 2020). "Autonomy founder Mike Lynch submits himself for arrest". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  79. ^ "Autonomy founder mike lynch arrested in US extradition fight". Bloomberg.com. 5 February 2020.
  80. ^ Cook, James (12 January 2021). "Britain must not allow Mike Lynch to be extradited to the US, say ex-ministers". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  81. ^ "Bambos Tsiattalou discusses the Mike Lynch extradition case in The Barrister Magazine". Stokoe Partnership. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  82. ^ O'Dwyer, Michael (7 February 2021). "Sovereignty in the dock as Autonomy's Mike Lynch battles the US". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  83. ^ "Mike Lynch can be extradited to US, rules UK court". The Financial Times. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  84. ^ "UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch fails bid to delay US extradition ruling". CityAM. 26 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  85. ^ "Autonomy founder Mike Lynch files judicial review that pauses extradition clock". Uk News today - Up to date News, NHS, Health, Sport, Science. 18 December 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  86. ^ "Mike Lynch: Home secretary approves extradition of UK tech tycoon to US but his lawyers vow to fight order". Sky News. 29 January 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  87. ^ "Mike Lynch can be extradited to US, rules UK court". Financial Times. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  88. ^ "HP wins multibillion-dollar fraud case over Autonomy sale". BBC. 28 January 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  89. ^ "UK Proceedings | Autonomy Accounts". autonomyaccounts.org.
  90. ^ "HP wins multibillion-dollar fraud case over Autonomy sale". BBC. 28 January 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  91. ^ Biography AutonomyAccounts.org
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