The verdict, when it finally came at midday on Thursday on the 17th floor of San Francisco’s federal courthouse, was stunning. More than 12 years after being accused of what one US investigator called the biggest fraud ever to hit Silicon Valley, Mike Lynch, once one of the UK’s most prominent tech entrepreneurs, was not guilty on all counts.
The co-founder and former boss of the formerly high-flying UK software company Autonomy briefly put his hands over his face and eyes after the words “not guilty” were read out 15 times, according to a reporter from Law360 who was in the room. Moments later, his wife rushed over to embrace him.
After fighting aggressively and tirelessly in the courts and through the press for years, it was a moment of pure vindication. One of the leading figures to emerge from the “Silicon Fen” tech scene around Cambridge in the 1990s, Lynch had been forced to give up his life as an entrepreneur, start-up investor and prominent figure in the UK science establishment to defend himself. He had endured an ignominious year under house arrest in San Francisco, wearing an ankle bracelet and under 24-hour supervision by security guards he was forced to pay for personally.