As we said in HP, Autonomy – The day after, “when Mike Lynch is accused of anything he comes back fighting tooth and claw”. Yesterday Lynch hit the studios and interview suites again. Jeff Randall on Sky asked “Can you look people in the eye and say that you cooked no books and fiddled no numbers?” Lynch replied “I absolutely can”. Deloitte went public saying “we categorically deny any knowledge of any accounting improprieties or misrepresentations in Autonomy’s financial statements”. (Source – The Times)
If you are judging this in PR terms then I’d say Lynch was winning hands down and HP is getting a pretty awful press. However, particularly in the US, there seems to be an assumption that Autonomy is ‘guilty’ but that it is HP that has egg on its face for not spotting this before, during or immediately after the acquisition. Afterall HP has serious form in doing acquisition which don’t work out well – all the way from Compaq through EDS and Palm.
But, as I have said countless times, if HP failed in its due diligence, if HP overpaid, if HP mismanaged the company post acquisition – that does not mean that Autonomy managers are guilty of serious fraud.
In terms of analyst comment – both in the press and privately to my mailbox – there seems to be a mood varying from “I told you so”, “I always thought they were dodgy” to a certain ‘glee’. Bluntly, I find that all rather distasteful. I’ve always lived by the ethos that a man is innocent before proven guilty.
In my various posts so far I have always said that Lynch was a friend. In all my dealings with him over the last 10 years he has been entirely straight. His support for so many of the causes I hold dear has been exemplary. He is a huge supporter of UK tech. I have shared debating platforms with him. Indeed I’ve interviewed him in front of audiences of 000s. He always answers my calls and emails. Indeed we had lunch together only a few weeks ago when he told me all about his new fund – Invoke.
A friend should not just be for the good times.