Widow of British billionaire Mike Lynch broke following £930m fraud order after husband's death in Bayesian yacht tragedy
A High Court judge ordered Angela Bacares to pay the tech giant the massive sum because of the fraudulent sale of Mr Lynch's software company, Autonomy, in 2011.
The widow of the late British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is set to be left broke as she was ordered to pay £930 million in damages to Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).
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A High Court judge ordered Angela Bacares, 58, to pay the tech giant the massive sum because of the fraudulent sale of Mr Lynch's software company, Autonomy, in 2011.
Mr Lynch died in the Bayesian superyacht tragedy in 2024 off the coast of Sicily.
He lost his life alongside his teenage daughter, Hannah, and five others.
Read More: Mike Lynch Italian superyacht builder sues British billionaire’s widow for £400m
The Lynch estate had fought a lengthy battle over claims that Autonomy had its value inflated by Mr Lynch before the acquisition
After first making the allegations in 2012, a judge ruled that Mr Lynch and his Chief Financial Officer, Sushovan Hussain, had defrauded HPE over the $11.7 billion (£10.1 billion) sale.
HPE was awarded £700 million in damages last year, with the High Court now awarded them an additional £230 million in interest.
In a ruling on Tuesday, Mr Justice Hildyard also refused Mr Lynch's estate permission to appeal against either of his earlier judgments.
A spokesperson for HPE said: "HPE is pleased with the court's ruling and its rejection of the estate's request for permission to appeal, which brings us another step closer to resolution of the dispute."
The figure is set to bankrupt Mr Lynch's estate, which is estimated to be worth around £500 million.
In written submissions for the hearing in November, Patrick Goodall KC, for HPE, said Mr Lynch had "not only perpetrated an enormous fraud, but lied about it at every stage".
Richard Hill KC, for Mr Lynch's estate, said the $761million (£578million) in interest sought by the claimants was an "excessive sum ... based on a flawed analysis".
A spokesperson for the Lynch family said in a statement: "We are disappointed by the Court's refusal and believe an application to the Court of Appeal should follow in the interests of justice. HP's $5 billion damages claim has already been shown to be vastly exaggerated.
"Today's judgment describes the exaggeration as 'without foundation' and the purposes for which it was 'calibrated, publicised and pursued' as objectionable, misleading shareholders and extending the litigation unnecessarily."
They added: "Dr Lynch's acquittal in the US, where witnesses were properly cross-examined, exposed the truth. The damage to Autonomy was the result of HP's own actions and failures, not wrongdoing at Autonomy."