From riches to ankle bracelet: UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s stunning fall

‘Britain’s Bill Gates’ could spend up to 25 years in jail if convicted of fraud in the 2011 sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard

Mike Lynch, the technology tycoon, once dubbed Britain’s Bill Gates, has spent the past 10 months in San Francisco, with a GPS bracelet strapped to his ankle and two armed guards monitoring him around the clock. This week he heads to court to face a long, hard fight for his freedom.

It’s been 13 years since one of Silicon Valley’s most storied companies bought Lynch’s business in a blockbuster takeover that seemed to confirm his image as one of the UK’s most brilliant technologists. Now that deal is at the center of a criminal fraud trial. If convicted, Lynch could spend up to 25 years in jail.