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Good morning. Mike Lynch, once one of the UK's leading technology entrepreneurs, was acquitted of criminal charges by a jury in San Francisco yesterday, bringing to an end a 12-year legal battle that began in one of Silicon Valley's biggest fraud cases.
The former Autonomy CEO was accused of falsely inflating the company's revenue before it was sold to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011. The verdict marked a vindication for Lynch after a lengthy battle that saw him extradited to the US ahead of trial and placed under house arrest under 24-hour guard.
Lynch, 58, has long argued that he was made a scapegoat for HP's failed acquisition of Autonomy and subsequent mismanagement, and unsuccessfully argued that criminal charges should be brought in Britain.
Following her acquittal, Lynch said she was “delighted” and “looking forward to returning to the UK and getting back to what I love most – my family and innovating in my field.”
Here's what I'm focusing on today and this weekend:
Economic data: According to a survey of economists conducted by LSEG, the U.S. is expected to add 185,000 jobs in May, down from 175,000 in April. The unemployment rate is expected to remain stable at 3.9 per cent. The Canadian economy is forecast to add 22,500 jobs last month, following 90,400 jobs in April. The unemployment rate is expected to rise to 6.2 per cent.
RUSSIA: The Russian Central Bank will announce its interest rate decision today and President Vladimir Putin will speak at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
EU elections: Parliamentary elections continue until Sunday, with voting taking place in Ireland, Italy, Belgium and Germany today and over the weekend. Don't miss this morning's Europe Express with Henry Foy explaining the elections, which will be free to all subscribers today and on Monday.
How much of the news have you been following this week? Take our quiz.
Five more top stories
1. Artificial intelligence heavyweights in California are protesting a state bill that would require tech companies to adhere to a strict safety framework, including creating a “kill switch” to halt powerful AI models. “This bill creates huge liabilities for science fiction risks,” said Andrew Ng, a prominent computer scientist who leads AI projects at Alphabet's Google and China's Baidu, and sits on Amazon's board of directors. Here's how the industry is reacting to the bill.
2. Hallie Biden told jurors she was “ashamed and embarrassed” as she recounted the events that unfolded nearly six years ago when gun charges emerged against her former brother-in-law and boyfriend, Hunter Biden. Her testimony marked a key juncture in the federal trial that is intertwined with the presidential election. Here's what Hallie Biden told jurors in a Delaware courtroom:
3. Private equity executives have warned that the industry could see declining returns over the next few years as it seeks to sell assets after a flurry of investment during the coronavirus pandemic. “That was a period when interest rates were low and valuations were high,” Pete Stavros, co-head of global private equity at KKR, said at the SuperReturns industry conference in Berlin yesterday.
4. Creditors of Credit Suisse are suing over Switzerland's decision to write off $17 billion in debt when the bank was rescued by rival UBS last year. In the first major lawsuit filed in a U.S. court over the takeover, lawyers representing the group allege Switzerland wrongfully violated creditors' property rights in orchestrating the deal.
5. Shares in Exosens, a French manufacturer of military night vision goggles, rose 17% in its listing in Paris this morning. Exosens is the latest European defense company to go public as the war in Ukraine sees a surge in military orders. In February, German tank gearbox maker Renk listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange after a private investment group floated a third of its shares.
Today's Featured Articles
John Henry at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox © Cassandra Cross
John Henry's Fenway Sports Group has become the modern blueprint for transatlantic sports empires, buying and rebuilding struggling organisations since it bought the Boston Red Sox baseball team in 2002 and Liverpool Football Club in 2010. FT Magazine speaks to one of the industry's most famous yet least understood owners, responsible for ending a World Series curse and a Premier League drought.
We are also reading…
Today's Chart
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Yesterday, the European Central Bank cut interest rates for the first time in nearly five years, a landmark move in tackling inflation after the biggest price spike in a generation. The quarter-point cut to 3.75% has yet to be made by the central banks of the United States and the United Kingdom.
Take a break from the news
In a studio tucked away on a side street in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, the Lviv State Opera is busy preparing for the Ukrainian premiere of Francis Poulenc's Dialogues of Carmelites, set in a French Revolutionary-era convent. In the shadow of war, the opera's themes of tyranny, sacrifice and terror will be all too familiar to Ukrainians.
Performance of “Stolen Happiness” by LNO
Additional contributions by Tee Zhuo, Sophie Spiegelberger and Benjamin Wilhelm
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