Overview

Mike Lynch was a maverick outsider in the British business world. From humble beginnings, Lynch rose to become one of the UK's richest men, selling his home-grown enterprise software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for over £11bn in 2011. The sale triggered one of the biggest fraud cases in Silicon Valley history, as HP accused him of cooking the company's books. Lynch was sent to the US in handcuffs, his reputation in tatters - but was acquitted by a US jury, and returned home a free man. Tragically, his second chance at life was snatched away even as he was celebrating his freedom. In a freak accident, his yacht sunk off the coast of northern Sicily in August 2024, taking the lives of Lynch, his daughter and five others. Shockingly, the co-defendant in the US trial, Autonomy accountant Stephen Chamberlain, was killed hours before Lynch, hit by a car in Cambridge. It was almost thirteen years to the day since the deal between HP and Autonomy was signed. Drawing on extensive research and exclusive access to key sources, The Curious Case of Mike Lynch follows the billionaire's dramatic rise and fall and, finally, his untimely and tragic death. It's a thrilling story of money, power and deception, taking readers into a high-stakes world of corporate subterfuge and rivalries, zigzagging through the hallowed confines of Cambridge across the cut-throat streets of the City of London to Silicon Valley. In this pacy, no-holds barred investigation into one of the most fascinating men in the history of British business, award-winning Times journalist Katie Prescott reflects on Lynch's legacy, outlining lessons from a truly unique life which serve as both a warning and inspiration for us all.

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9781035074235

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Reviews

There is an old saying that most journalists have a bad book in them . . . Katie Prescott isn’t one of them. If this was a film script no one would believe it -- Kamal Ahmed, journalist and author of <i>Life and Times of a Very British Man</i> Totally gripping . . . A real-life story that reads like a novel -- Sathnam Sanghera, bestselling author of <i>Empireland</i> A meticulously researched glimpse into the dark side of tech business in the UK . . . Riveting -- Parmy Olson, bestselling author of <i>Supremacy</i> This gripping book, with its tragic ending, is a major achievement -- Rory Cellan-Jones, journalist and former BBC News Technology Correspondent Gripping . . . Essential reading for anyone interested in the future of tech, finance and transatlantic capitalism -- Ed Conway, Economics Editor at Sky News and bestselling author of <i>Material World</i> All the twists and turns of a top-notch thriller -- Steph McGovern, journalist and BBC/Channel 4 Presenter One of the most astonishing business stories of our time -- Duncan Mavin, bestselling author of <i>Pyramid of Lies </i>and <i>Meltdown</i>

Author Information

Katie Prescott is technology business editor at The Times and a weekly columnist for the newspaper's award-winning business section. A regular on Times Radio and The Times' daily podcast The Story, she is a familiar voice to millions of listeners after a decade reporting for the BBC and presenting the business news on Radio 4's Today. She is the current host of The Times Tech Podcast, has almost 17,000 followers on X, and was the winner of 'Tech Commentator of the Year' at the UK Tech Awards 2024.

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