Mike Lynch to make HP exit as Autonomy struggles

Autonomy founder to hand reins to HP Software boss Bill Veghte following disappointing licence sales

Autonomy boss Mike Lynch is to leave HP less than a year after the firm he founded sold up to the hardware giant for $10.3bn (£6.6bn).

HP – which last night announced it is to axe 27,000 jobs – confirmed that HP Software's global boss, Bill Veghte, is stepping in to lead Autonomy to "improve performance".

Dubbed in some circles as the UK's answer to Bill Gates, Lynch (pictured) became the UK's first technology billionaire after founding Autonomy in 1996 in Cambridge. He netted $800m from the sale of the company in October.

Lynch spoke passionately about integrating Autonomy's information management software with HP hardware at HP's recent Global Partner Summit. However, HP told analysts that licence revenue for Autonomy had been "challenging" and Lynch, whose formal title was executive vice president for information management, will leave the vendor after a transition period.

"The market and competitive positioning for Autonomy remain strong, particularly in cloud offerings," HP stated.

"Veghte is an experienced software leader who will help develop the right processes and discipline to scale Autonomy and fulfil its promise."