Friends of Lynch point finger at HP
Friends of Mike Lynch yesterday directed the blame at Hewlett-Packard for Autonomy’s recent revenue drop which led to the ousting of the British tech guru.
It emerged yesterday that Lynch is the latest in a long line of execs to leave Autonomy since its £6.2bn buyout by HP last year.
“HP have really stuck the knife in, blaming [the revenue drop] on Autonomy; 20 per cent of Autonomy’s staff left after the acquisition, including the whole management team, as they were disappointed with how slowly HP was moving,” a source close to the issue told City A.M.
Another source pointed out that this was the first time in 47 quarters that Autonomy missed earnings, suggesting that HP has not yet succeeded in embracing the software world.
HP responded: “Autonomy is a great business with tremendous potential, but at this stage in its growth cycle requires different leadership to allow it to fulfill its full promise.”
A source with knowledge of HP said: “There’s been some disappointing financial results in the last quarter, and Autonomy needs someone who can take it to a new level.”
A friend of Lynch said the Cambridge man was disappointed over how things turned out, “but we’ve definitely not seen the last of him.”