After a ruling in favor of "HP" Will London hand over "British Bill Gates" to the United States? After a ruling in favor of "HP" Will London hand over "British Bill Gates" to the United States?

After a ruling in favor of "HP" Will London hand over "British Bill Gates" to the United States?

بعد حكم لصالح "إتش بي".. هل تسلم لندن "بيل غيتس البريطاني" للولايات المتحدة؟  يعتبر مايك لينش أحد أبرز رواد الأعمال في مجال التكنولوجيا بالمملكة المتحدة والشخص الذي يُشار إليه غالبًا باسم "بيل غيتس البريطاني" وهو الآن على وشك أن يتم تسليمه إلى الولايات المتحدة لمواجهة اتهامات جنائية تتعلق ببيع شركته أوتونومي (Autonomy) لشركة هويلت باكارد (Hewlett-Packard) المعروفة اختصارا "إتش بي" (HP).  فقد باع لينش (56 عامًا) أوتونومي الناشئة في مجال البرمجيات إلى "إتش بي" عام 2011 مقابل 11.7 مليار دولار، مما جعله على الفور واحدًا من أغنى مؤسسي التكنولوجيا وأكثرهم شهرة بالمملكة المتحدة.  وكان عرض "إتش بي" أعلى بنسبة 64% من القيمة السوقية لشركة أوتونومي. مما أدى لانهيار سعر سهم شركة تكنولوجيا المعلومات العملاقة في وول ستريت بنسبة 20% في اليوم الذي تم فيه الإعلان عن الصفقة، في حين ارتفع سعر سهم أوتونومي بأكثر من 70%.  أعلنت "إتش بي" بعد عام واحد أن "المخالفات المحاسبية" اضطرتها إلى دفع الكثير من المال مقابل أوتونومي التي كانت متخصصة ببيع برامج تحليلات البيانات للشركات.  الاتهام الرئيسي الموجه إلى "إتش بي" أن المديرين التنفيذيين لدى أوتونومي قد ضخموا عائدات الشركة بحوالي 700 مليون دولار، ورفعت "إتش بي" دعوى قضائية مقابل 5 مليارات دولار. كما رفع لينش دعوى قضائية مضادة، مما أدى إلى معركة قانونية معقدة للغاية استمرت عقدا من الزمان.  ومع ذلك، هناك علامات على أن الأمور قد اقتربت من نهايتها.  الجمعة الماضية، وافقت وزيرة الداخلية بريتي باتيل على تسليم لينش إلى الولايات المتحدة، بعد أن حكم قاض في وقت سابق لصالح "إتش بي" في قضية مدنية ضد لينش بسبب مزاعم تآمره لتضخيم قيمة أوتونومي قبل أن تشتريها "إتش بي".  وقال القاضي روبرت هيلديارد إن "إتش بي" فازت بمعظم ادعاءاتها، ولكن التعويضات ستكون أقل بكثير من 5 مليارات دولار التي تطلبها الشركة.  ولن يكون لينش أول شخصية من أوتونومي يتم اتهامه بالولايات المتحدة، ففي مايو/أيار 2019، تم اتهام المدير المالي السابق سوشوفان حسين بالاحتيال، وسُجن 5 سنوات.  وقال متحدث باسم "إتش بي" إلى قناة "سي إن بي سي" (CNBC) يوم الاثنين إن الشركة سعيدة بالحكم "لقد قام لينش وحسين بالاحتيال على السوق وتعمد تضليل شركة هوليت بيكارد. لقد حملهم القاضي المسؤولية".  لم يرد محامو لينش على الفور على طلب التعليق للقناة الإخبارية، لكنهم يخططون لاستئناف الأحكام، وقد تستغرق العملية 12 شهرا، وفقًا للخبراء القانونيين. ولكن إذا لم ينجح استئنافه، فقد يواجه عقوبة بالسجن لمدة 20 عامًا.  معارضة لتسليم لينش لا يعتقد البعض في صناعة التكنولوجيا بالمملكة المتحدة، بما في ذلك برنت هوبرمان المؤسس المشارك لموقع لاست مينيت. كوم (Lastminute.com) أنه يجب تسليم لينش.  وقال هوبرمان لصحيفة صنداي تايمز (Sunday times) "هل هو الشيء الصحيح أن يتم تسليم رجل أعمال بريطاني يعمل بموجب قوانين المملكة المتحدة إلى الولايات المتحدة؟ لا أعتقد ذلك، ولا أعتقد أن رجال الأعمال الآخرين سيوافقون على ذلك أيضًا".  ووصف مؤسسَ أوتونومي بأنه "شخصية بارزة في مجال التكنولوجيا بالمملكة المتحدة" وقد طلب هوبرمان من لينش التحدث بمؤتمر فوندرز فورم (Founders Forum) الصيف الماضي، وفقًا لتقرير الصحيفة.  وقد باعت "إتش بي" ما تبقى من أوتونومي بعد شطب ثلاثة أرباع قيمة الشركة، إلى ميكرو فوكس (Micro Focus) البريطانية في سبتمبر/أيلول 2016 كجزء من صفقة بقيمة 8.8 مليارات دولار تضمنت وحدات أعمال أخرى من "إتش بي".  وقال لينش في مؤتمر تكنولوجي عام 2016 "إن ما حدث محزن. في قوانين المملكة المتحدة ليس هناك طريقة لوقف الاستحواذ. لذلك عندما جاءت إتش بي وأرادت تقديم عرضها لم نتمكن من إيقافها".  وأضاف "كانت المشكلة الأسبوع التالي للصفقة حيث تم طرد قادة إتش بي وتركنا مع عاملين في مجموعة مجالها الأجهزة وليس البرمجيات. كل الذين لديهم الفهم للنمو الذكي للبرمجيات لم يكونوا موجودين".  وإلى جانب لينش، تحاول الولايات المتحدة مع المملكة المتحدة أن تسلّم الأخيرة مؤسس ويكيليكس، جوليان أسانج، وهو مطلوب من قبل السلطات الأميركية لنشر مئات الآلاف من الوثائق العسكرية السرية والبرقيات الدبلوماسية عامي 2010 و2011. ويقولون إن أفعاله عرضت الأرواح للخطر ووجهوا له 18 تهمة، مما يعني أنه يواجه عقوبة السجن 175 عامًا.  وفي وقت سابق من هذا الشهر، حصل أسانج على حق رفع قضية تسليمه إلى المحكمة العليا في المملكة المتحدة.  بدايات متواضعة ولد لينش بضواحي لندن في إسكس يوم 16 يونيو/حزيران 1965، وكانت بداياته متواضعة إلى حد ما. كانت والدته ممرضة وكان والده رجل إطفاء.  وذهب لجامعة كامبردج المرموقة، حيث درس العلوم الطبيعية، مع التركيز على مجالات تشمل الإلكترونيات والرياضيات وعلم الأحياء. وبعد الانتهاء من شهادته الجامعية، حصل على درجة الدكتوراه في معالجة الإشارات والاتصالات.  نهاية الثمانينيات، أسس شركة "لينت سيستمز إل تي دي" (Lynett Systems Ltd) التي أنتجت تصميمات ومنتجات صوتية لصناعة الموسيقى.  بعد بضع سنوات، أوائل التسعينيات، أسس شركة للتعرف على بصمات الأصابع تسمى كامبردج نيوروداينامكس (Cambridge Neurodynamics) التي تعد شرطة جنوب يوركشاير من بين عملائها.  لكن إنجازه الكبير جاء مع أوتونومي، حيث شارك في تأسيسها عام 1996 بصفتها فرعًا من كامبردج نيوروداينامكس.     After a ruling in favor of "HP" Will London hand over "British Bill Gates" to the United States?  Mike Lynch, one of the UK's most prominent tech entrepreneurs and the person often referred to as the "British Bill Gates", is now on the verge of being extradited to the US to face criminal charges related to the sale of his company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard HP for short.  Lynch, 56, sold software startup Autonomy to HP in 2011 for $11.7 billion, instantly making him one of the UK's richest and most famous tech founders.  HP's bid was 64% higher than Autonomy's market value. This led to the collapse of the share price of the information technology giant on Wall Street by 20% on the day the deal was announced, while the share price of Autonomy rose by more than 70%.  One year later, HP announced that "accounting irregularities" had forced it to pay a lot of money for Autonomy, which specialized in selling data analytics software to companies.  The main accusation against HP is that Autonomy executives inflated the company's revenue by about $700 million, and HP sued for $5 billion. Lynch also filed a counter-lawsuit, which led to an extremely complex legal battle that lasted a decade.  However, there are signs that things are coming to an end. Last Friday, Home Secretary Priti Patel approved Lynch's extradition to the United States, after a judge earlier ruled in HP's favor in a civil case against Lynch over allegations he conspired to inflate the value of Autonomy before HP bought it.  Judge Robert Hildyard said HP won most of its claims, but that the damages would be well below the $5 billion the company is seeking. Lynch wouldn't be the first Autonomy to be charged in the United States. In May 2019, former CFO Suchovan Hussain was charged with fraud and imprisoned for 5 years.  An HP spokesperson told CNBC Monday that the company was pleased with the verdict, "Lynch and Hussein defrauded the market and intentionally misled Hewlett-Pickard. The judge held them responsible."  Lynch's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment by the news channel, but they plan to appeal the rulings, and the process could take 12 months, according to legal experts. But if his appeal is unsuccessful, he could face up to 20 years in prison.  Opposition to Lynch's extradition Some don't believe in the UK tech industry, including Brent Huberman, co-founder of Last Minute. com (Lastminute.com) that Lynch should deliver.  "Is it right for a British businessman operating under UK laws to be extradited to the US? I don't think so, and I don't think other businessmen would agree to that either," Huberman told the Sunday Times.  Describing the founder of Autonomy as "a pre-eminent figure in UK tech" Huberman asked Lynch to speak at the Founders Forum last summer, according to the paper's report.  HP sold the remainder of Autonomy, after writing off three-quarters of the company's value, to Britain's Micro Focus in September 2016 as part of an $8.8 billion deal that included other HP business units.  "It's sad what happened," Lynch said at a 2016 technology conference. "In UK laws there is no way to stop a takeover. So when HP came in and wanted to make their bid we couldn't stop it."  "The problem was the week after the deal where HP's leaders were fired and we were left with workers in a group whose domain was hardware, not software. All those who had an understanding of intelligent software growth weren't there," he added.  In addition to Lynch, the United States and the United Kingdom are trying to extradite the latter, the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, who is wanted by the American authorities for the release of hundreds of thousands of classified military documents and diplomatic cables in 2010 and 2011. They say his actions endangered lives and they charge him with 18 counts, meaning he faces 175 years in prison.  Earlier this month, Assange was granted the right to take his extradition case to the UK's Supreme Court.  Humble beginnings Born on the outskirts of London in Essex on 16 June 1965, Lynch had rather humble beginnings. His mother was a nurse and his father was a firefighter.  He went to the prestigious Cambridge University, where he studied the natural sciences, focusing on fields including electronics, mathematics and biology. After completing his undergraduate degree, he obtained a Ph.D. in Signal Processing and Communication.  In the late 1980s, he founded Lynett Systems Ltd, which produced sound designs and products for the music industry. A few years later, in the early 1990s, he founded a fingerprint recognition company called Cambridge Neurodynamics, which counts South Yorkshire Police among its clients.  But his breakthrough came with Autonomy, which he co-founded in 1996 as a division of Cambridge Neurodynamics.

After a ruling in favor of "HP" Will London hand over "British Bill Gates" to the United States?


Mike Lynch, one of the UK's most prominent tech entrepreneurs and the person often referred to as the "British Bill Gates", is now on the verge of being extradited to the US to face criminal charges related to the sale of his company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard HP for short.

Lynch, 56, sold software startup Autonomy to HP in 2011 for $11.7 billion, instantly making him one of the UK's richest and most famous tech founders.

HP's bid was 64% higher than Autonomy's market value. This led to the collapse of the share price of the information technology giant on Wall Street by 20% on the day the deal was announced, while the share price of Autonomy rose by more than 70%.

One year later, HP announced that "accounting irregularities" had forced it to pay a lot of money for Autonomy, which specialized in selling data analytics software to companies.

The main accusation against HP is that Autonomy executives inflated the company's revenue by about $700 million, and HP sued for $5 billion. Lynch also filed a counter-lawsuit, which led to an extremely complex legal battle that lasted a decade.

However, there are signs that things are coming to an end.
Last Friday, Home Secretary Priti Patel approved Lynch's extradition to the United States, after a judge earlier ruled in HP's favor in a civil case against Lynch over allegations he conspired to inflate the value of Autonomy before HP bought it.

Judge Robert Hildyard said HP won most of its claims, but that the damages would be well below the $5 billion the company is seeking.
Lynch wouldn't be the first Autonomy to be charged in the United States. In May 2019, former CFO Suchovan Hussain was charged with fraud and imprisoned for 5 years.

An HP spokesperson told CNBC Monday that the company was pleased with the verdict, "Lynch and Hussein defrauded the market and intentionally misled Hewlett-Pickard. The judge held them responsible."

Lynch's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment by the news channel, but they plan to appeal the rulings, and the process could take 12 months, according to legal experts. But if his appeal is unsuccessful, he could face up to 20 years in prison.

Opposition to Lynch's extradition
Some don't believe in the UK tech industry, including Brent Huberman, co-founder of Last Minute. com (Lastminute.com) that Lynch should deliver.

"Is it right for a British businessman operating under UK laws to be extradited to the US? I don't think so, and I don't think other businessmen would agree to that either," Huberman told the Sunday Times.

Describing the founder of Autonomy as "a pre-eminent figure in UK tech" Huberman asked Lynch to speak at the Founders Forum last summer, according to the paper's report.

HP sold the remainder of Autonomy, after writing off three-quarters of the company's value, to Britain's Micro Focus in September 2016 as part of an $8.8 billion deal that included other HP business units.

"It's sad what happened," Lynch said at a 2016 technology conference. "In UK laws there is no way to stop a takeover. So when HP came in and wanted to make their bid we couldn't stop it."

"The problem was the week after the deal where HP's leaders were fired and we were left with workers in a group whose domain was hardware, not software. All those who had an understanding of intelligent software growth weren't there," he added.

In addition to Lynch, the United States and the United Kingdom are trying to extradite the latter, the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, who is wanted by the American authorities for the release of hundreds of thousands of classified military documents and diplomatic cables in 2010 and 2011. They say his actions endangered lives and they charge him with 18 counts, meaning he faces 175 years in prison.

Earlier this month, Assange was granted the right to take his extradition case to the UK's Supreme Court.

Humble beginnings
Born on the outskirts of London in Essex on 16 June 1965, Lynch had rather humble beginnings. His mother was a nurse and his father was a firefighter.

He went to the prestigious Cambridge University, where he studied the natural sciences, focusing on fields including electronics, mathematics and biology. After completing his undergraduate degree, he obtained a Ph.D. in Signal Processing and Communication.

In the late 1980s, he founded Lynett Systems Ltd, which produced sound designs and products for the music industry.
A few years later, in the early 1990s, he founded a fingerprint recognition company called Cambridge Neurodynamics, which counts South Yorkshire Police among its clients.

But his breakthrough came with Autonomy, which he co-founded in 1996 as a division of Cambridge Neurodynamics.

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