(Bloomberg) -- Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. Chief Executive Officer Antonio Neri said it’s the company’s “fiduciary duty” to pursue damages against the estate of Mike Lynch in a civil lawsuit after the British tech tycoon, his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, and close associates died last month when Lynch’s luxury yacht sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily.
Lynch had for years fought legal issues related to the 2011 sale of his software company to Hewlett Packard Co. He was acquitted of US criminal charges last month, but was facing a sizable damages claim from HPE in a civil case in London. A British judge had declared Lynch responsible for creating the illusion of a company much larger and more successful than it was at the time of the sale.
“Fundamentally we believe the things that took place were not in the interest of the shareholders, and we need to see it through,” Neri said Wednesday in an interview.
Lynch was celebrating his acquittal last month when his yacht sank. “It was a sad situation,” Neri said.
HPE had previously said it intends to pursue the $4 billion damages claim in London against Lynch’s estate. His wife, Angela Bacares, survived the shipwreck. Lynch’s other daughter wasn’t on board at the time.
For now, the case is in the judge’s hands, Neri said. “Once the judge proceeds, we will regroup and see what comes next.”
--With assistance from Jonathan Browning.
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