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    ‘Britain’s Bill Gates’: Who is Mike Lynch, the UK tech entrepreneur missing after superyacht sinks?

    British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch was acquitted in June of fraud charges in a landmark trial.
    He was accused by Hewlett Packard of working to artificially inflate the value of his company Autonomy when he sold it to the U.S. tech giant for $11.7 billion in 2011.
    Lynch — once lauded by the U.K. press as “Britain’s Bill Gates” — is now missing after the sinking of a superyacht off the coast of Sicily.

    Mike Lynch, 59, is the founder of enterprise software firm Autonomy. He was acquitted of fraud charges in June after defending himself in a trial over allegations that he artificially inflated Autonomy’s value in an $11.7 billion sale to tech giant Hewlett Packard.
    Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    LONDON — British technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch was acquitted of fraud charges in June in a landmark trial over allegations made by Hewlett Packard that he had artificially inflated the value of his company when he sold it to the U.S. enterprise tech giant for $11.7 billion in 2011.
    Just two months after his acquittal, Lynch — who was once lauded by the U.K. national press as “Britain’s Bill Gates” — was reported missing Monday after the sinking of a superyacht off the coast of Sicily.

    The yacht, called the Bayesian, capsized at around 4 a.m. local time while anchored off the coast of Porticello, a small fishing village located in the province of Palermo in Italy. It was struck by an unexpectedly violent storm, according to local media reports.
    Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, is among the 15 people who were rescued after the yacht’s collapse. At least one man has died, while six people — including Lynch’s daughter Hannah — remain unaccounted for, officials have said.
    Sicily’s civil protection agency told reporters late Monday that Morgan Stanley International chairman, Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo are also missing.
    In a separate incident Saturday, Stephen Chamberlain, the former vice president of finance at Autonomy and a co-defendant in Lynch’s trial, died after being “fatally struck” by a car while out running in Cambridgeshire, Chamberlain’s lawyer told Reuters news agency.

    Who is Mike Lynch?

    Lynch, 59, is the founder of enterprise software firm Autonomy. He also runs Invoke Capital, a venture capital firm focused on backing European tech startups, which he founded in 2012.

    He became the target of a protracted legal battle with Hewlett Packard after the technology firm accused Lynch of inflating Autonomy’s value in an $11.7 billion sale. HP took an $8.8 billion write-down on the value of Autonomy within a year of buying it.

    Lynch was extradited from Britain to the U.S. last year to stand trial over the HP allegations. He faced criminal charges, including wire fraud and conspiracy for allegedly scheming to inflate Autonomy’s revenue starting in 2009 in a bid to entice a buyer.
    But two months ago, Lynch, who has long denied the accusations, was acquitted of fraud charges in a surprise victory following the trial, which lasted for three months.
    During the trial, Lynch took the stand in his own defense, denying wrongdoing and telling jurors that HP botched Autonomy’s integration.
    Prosecutors had alleged Lynch, along with Autonomy’s now-deceased finance executive Chamberlain, padded Autonomy’s finances in a number of ways.
    These included back-dated agreements and so-called “round-tripping” deals that sought to artificially inflate Autonomy’s sales by fronting cash cash to customers through fake contracts.
    Lynch told jurors that he was focused on technology-related matters at Autonomy and left accounting and money decisions to the company’s then-chief financial officer, Sushovan Hussain.

    Hussain was separately convicted in the U.S. in 2018 on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and securities fraud related to the HP deal. He was released from prison in January after serving a five-year sentence.

    ‘Britain’s Bill Gates’

    Lynch was born in Ilford, a large town in East London, in 1965 and grew up near Chelmsford in the English county of Essex.
    He attended the University of Cambridge, where he studied natural sciences, focusing on areas including electronics, mathematics and biology. After completing his undergraduate studies, Lynch completed a Ph.D. in signals processing and communications.
    Toward the end of the 1980s, Lynch founded Lynett Systems Ltd., a firm which produced designs and audio products for the music industry.
    A few years later, in the early 1990s, he founded a fingerprint recognition business called Cambridge Neurodynamics, which counted the South Yorkshire Police among its customers.
    But his big break came in 1996 with Autonomy, which he co-founded with David Tabizel and Richard Gaunt as a spinoff from Cambridge Neurodynamics. The company scaled into one of Britain’s biggest tech firms.
    Lynch held a lot of influence in the U.K. technology sphere at the height of his success, having once been dubbed Britain’s Bill Gates by the media.

    He was previously on the board of U.K. broadcaster BBC. He also once served as an advisor to the British government on the Council for Science and Technology.
    In his role as head of venture firm Invoke, Lynch was closely involved in helping British cybersecurity firm Darktrace and legal software startup Luminance get off the ground, backing both firms with sizable sums of cash.
    Publicly-listed Darktrace, which had fended off similar allegations of inflating its revenues by U.S. short seller Quintessential Capital Management (QCM), earlier this year agreed a deal to bought out and taken private by U.S. private equity firm Thoma Bravo for $5.32 billion in cash.
    Lynch previously made the Forbes’ billionaires list in 2014 and 2015, with an estimate net worth of $1 billion, according to the business news outlet. However, while facing legal costs in the dispute with HP, he dropped off the list in 2016.

    Legal struggles aside, Lynch has several hobbies to keep him busy, including keeping and caring for cattle and pigs at his home in Suffolk.
    “I keep rare breeds,” Lynch told LeadersIn during an interview. “I have cows that became defunct in the 1940s and pigs that no one has kept since the medieval times and none of them have any Apple products whatsoever.”
    Lynch reportedly returned to his farm in Suffolk, a county in the East of England, to recover from his U.S. legal battle, the local East Anglian Times newspaper reported.
    Weeks before he was reported missing, Lynch told The Times newspaper of how he feared dying in prison if found guilty over the HP allegations.
    “‘If this had gone the wrong way, it would have been the end of my life as I have known it in any sense,” Lynch said in the interview with The Times.
    “It’s bizarre, but now you have a second life – the question is, what do you want to do with it?” he added. More

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    Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug slashes the risk of developing diabetes in long-term trial

    Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug reduced the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 94% in obese or overweight adults with pre-diabetes compared to a placebo, according to initial results from a long-term study.
    The late-stage trial on tirzepatide also found that patients experienced sustained weight loss over the roughly three-year treatment period.
    Tirzepatide is the active ingredient in the company’s highly popular weight loss injection Zepbound and diabetes drug Mounjaro.

    An Eli Lilly & Co. Zepbound injection pen arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Thursday, March 28, 2024. 
    Shelby Knowles | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Eli Lilly’s highly popular weight loss drug reduced the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 94% in obese or overweight adults with prediabetes compared with a placebo, according to initial results from a long-term study released Tuesday. 
    The late-stage trial on tirzepatide, the active ingredient in the company’s weight loss injection Zepbound and diabetes drug Mounjaro, also found that patients experienced sustained weight loss over the roughly three-year treatment period. Adults on the highest weekly dose of the drug saw a 22.9% decrease in body weight on average after 176 weeks, compared with 2.1% for those who received a placebo. 

    The results suggest that Eli Lilly’s treatment could meaningfully delay a potential diagnosis for people with prediabetes, or those with blood sugar levels that are higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as Type 2 diabetes. 
    More than 1 in 3 Americans have prediabetes, according to the latest government data, which health experts say can be reversed with lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise. People who are overweight or have obesity are at a higher risk for prediabetes. 
    The new data also shows the potential long-term health benefits of taking a buzzy class of obesity and diabetes medications called GLP-1s, which mimic hormones produced in the gut to tamp down appetite and regulate blood sugar. As Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Mounjaro and injections from rival Novo Nordisk have skyrocketed in popularity over the last two years, the companies have raced to study other clinical uses for their drugs.
    “Obesity is a chronic disease that puts nearly 900 million adults worldwide at an increased risk of other complications such as Type 2 diabetes,” Dr. Jeff Emmick, senior vice president of product development at Eli Lilly, said in a statement. “These data reinforce the potential clinical benefits of long-term therapy for people living with obesity and pre-diabetes.”
    Eli Lilly tested tirzepatide in more than 1,000 adults over 176 weeks in the phase three trial, followed by a 17-week period where patients stopped treatment. It is the longest completed study on the drug to date, according to the company. 

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    The drugmaker will submit the latest results to a peer-reviewed journal and present them at an upcoming medical conference in November. Eli Lilly published 72-week weight loss results on a larger group of patients from the same trial, called SUMOUNT-1, back in 2022. 
    Patients in the trial who stopped taking tirzepatide during the 17 weeks began to regain weight and saw an increase in progression to diabetes. But those participants still had an 88% lower risk of developing diabetes compared with a placebo, according to the latest phase three results.
    The safety data on tirzepatide during the trial was consistent with previous studies on the drug, according to Eli Lilly. The most common side effects were gastrointestinal, such as diarrhea, nausea, constipation and vomiting, and were generally mild to moderate in severity.
    Eli Lilly’s Zepbound works by imitating two naturally produced gut hormones called GLP-1 and GIP. 
    GLP helps reduce food intake and appetite. GIP, which also suppresses appetite, may also improve how the body breaks down sugar and fat.

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    Boeing pauses tests of 777X aircraft after finding damage to one of the jets’ structures

    Boeing said it grounded its fleet of four 777X test fleet after finding damage in one of the jetliner’s structures.
    It wasn’t immediately clear whether the problem will delay deliveries of the new wide-body jets, scheduled to start in 2025.
    The planes are already years behind schedule and were originally expected to start deliveries in 2020.

    A Boeing 777x aircraft during an aerial display on the opening day of the Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, UK, on Monday, July 18, 2022.
    Jason Alden | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Boeing said Monday that it has paused flight tests of its 777X after it found damage in a structure of one of the wide-body aircraft.
    The company said it discovered the damage to the custom part, which it said is between the engine and the airplane structure, during scheduled maintenance. It has since grounded the three other 777-9 airplanes in its test fleet. No other flight testing was scheduled for the other aircraft, Boeing said.

    “Our team is replacing the part and capturing any learnings from the component and will resume flight testing when ready,” Boeing said in a statement. It said it has informed the Federal Aviation Administration and its customers, which have ordered 481 of the 777X, according to Boeing’s website.
    It wasn’t immediately clear whether the grounding and issue would impact certification and delivery of the new wide-body jetliners, which are slated for 2025, about five years behind schedule. Boeing began flight tests of the aircraft with the Federal Aviation Administration in July, a major milestone.
    The news, reported earlier by The Air Current, comes as Boeing’s leaders, including new CEO Kelly Ortberg, are trying to move the company past a safety crisis that started with a doorplug blowout at the start of the year.

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    California cracks down on organized retail crime with new package of laws

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed 10 new bills into law that aim to combat retail crime in the state.
    One of the bills in the package establishes tougher penalties for middlemen in organized retail crime rings and was introduced in response to a CNBC investigation published in March.
    Retailers have called on both local and federal governments to do more to combat retail theft, citing it as a growing challenge that’s impacted profits, customers and staff.

    Governor Newsom signed into law the most significant bipartisan legislation to crack down on property crime at a Home Depot store in San Jose, California, United States on August 16, 2024. 
    Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu | Getty Images

    California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed 10 new bills into law that aim to combat retail crime in the state.
    The package, announced Friday, includes new laws that crack down on shoplifting, theft from a vehicle, organized theft, and online marketplaces where these stolen goods are sometimes resold. The new laws come after retailers have called on both local and federal governments to do more to combat retail theft, citing it as a growing challenge that’s impacted profits, customers and staff.

    One of the bills in the package, SB 1416, establishes tougher penalties for middlemen in organized retail crime rings and was introduced in response to a CNBC investigation published in March, according to the office of state Sen. Josh Newman, a Democrat, who introduced the bill.
    “As author of the bill, I used examples of your reporting in each of the policy committee hearings at which I presented the bill, and I think it made real for my colleagues something that otherwise seemed kind of abstract. And it also, I think, encapsulated just how powerful the incentives are,” Newman told CNBC.
    The law Newman authored establishes additional prison time and fines for the sale, exchange or return of stolen property — the bread and butter of retail resale crime rings. Prior to the law’s passage, those charged with being involved in organized retail crime rings could face up to three years in prison. Critics said that sentence and penalty were not enough of a deterrence.
    Newman said the law was designed to go after middlemen like Michelle Mack — the organized retail crime “queenpin” who was exposed in CNBC’s investigation. Police say she made millions reselling stolen goods on Amazon at a fraction of their typical retail price.
    “It’s necessary to account for just how easy it is to recruit people to go steal for you, and then just how easy and profitable it is to then clean this stuff up and sell it,” Newman said.

    Mack was arrested in December and received a delayed sentence of five years and four months in state prison. Mack’s husband, Kenneth, received the same sentence and is already incarcerated. The couple was ordered to pay about $3 million in restitution to beauty retailer Ulta and another $13,000 to Sephora, a court official previously told CNBC.
    Theft and organized retail crime rings like that of Mack’s “California Girls” have been cited by retailers as a reason for lower profits, difficulty in hiring and retaining staff, and the degradation of the in-store experience. Others have countered these claims, saying that retailers are overstating the impact of theft and downplaying the operational issues behind lower profits.
    Commercial burglary and commercial robbery rates in California have been steadily rising over the past few years, according to data from the Public Policy Institute of California. Shoplifting, although still well below pre-pandemic levels, is seeing an increase as well.
    Since January, the California Highway Patrol’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force has made 884 arrests and recovered more than 250,000 stolen items valued collectively at over $7.2 million, according to the press release announcing the new legislation.
    Retailers have been urging Congress to crack down on organized retail crime nationally, with the retail lobby group National Retail Federation pushing to make it easier to prosecute theft as a federal felony.
    With the 2024 presidential election looming, Democrats are also looking to appear tough on crime to address Republican criticism of the nation’s rising crime rates. However, critics of the push to combat retail crime fear the measures may disproportionately harm marginalized groups.
    Another bill, SB 1144, also passed in the new package of laws aims to prevent the trafficking of stolen goods on online marketplaces like Amazon. The bill, introduced by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Democrat, builds on a previous California law by updating compliance criteria for high-volume, third-party sellers and making it easier for civil charges to be filed against online marketplaces selling stolen goods, among other measures.
    — CNBC’s Gabrielle Fonrouge, Scott Zamost and Courtney Reagan contributed to this report.

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    Artificial intelligence is losing hype

    Silicon Valley’s tech bros are having a difficult few weeks. A growing number of investors worry that artificial intelligence (AI) will not deliver the vast profits they seek. Since peaking last month the share prices of Western firms driving the ai revolution have dropped by 15%. A growing number of observers now question the limitations of large language models, which power services such as ChatGPT. Big tech firms have spent tens of billions of dollars on ai models, with even more extravagant promises of future outlays. Yet according to the latest data from the Census Bureau, only 4.8% of American companies use ai to produce goods and services, down from a high of 5.4% early this year. Roughly the same share intend to do so within the next year. More

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    GM reveals GMC Yukon ‘AT4 Ultimate’ to expand reach, profits of high-end SUVs

    General Motors is adding a new GMC Yukon to the lineup for the 2025 model year: an “AT4 Ultimate” model.
    The large SUV will have a front skid plate and 20-inch wheels with all-terrain tires; four-corner adaptive air suspension that can raise the vehicle up to 2 inches; and other features.
    Denali models have become a cash machine for GMC, and it’s added “Ultimate” and “AT4” models to further expand the reach and pricing of the high-end models.

    2025 GMC Yukon AT4 Ultimate

    DETROIT — General Motors is expanding its high-end GMC Yukon lineup to include a new “AT4 Ultimate” model as part of updates to the large SUV for the 2025 model year.
    The new model will slate in between the luxury “Denali” and “Denali Ultimate” models. The automaker declined to discuss pricing for the new AT4 Ultimate, but the Denali models currently start at roughly $77,300 and just under $100,000, respectively. The current AT4 model starts at $73,500.

    Denali models, now in their 25th year, have become a cash machine for GMC. In recent years, the automaker added “Ultimate” and “AT4” models, with off-road styling and some unique parts, to further expand the reach and pricing of the high-end models.

    2025 GMC Yukon AT4 Ultimate

    “We’re raising the bar on what our customers expect from GMC’s flagship and the addition of the AT4 Ultimate trim fuses ruggedness and capability with craftsmanship and refinement,” Duncan Aldred, global vice president of GMC, said in a release.
    AT4 sales represent about 17% of Yukon’s overall sales. That compares with the Denali models at more than 50% of sales for the large SUVs.
    The new AT4 Ultimate models include a front skid plate and 20-inch wheels with all-terrain tires; four-corner adaptive air suspension that can raise the vehicle up to 2 inches; and other features.
    The higher-trim models have helped GMC reach an average transaction price of roughly $80,000 for Yukon, according to GM.

    2025 GMC Yukon AT4 Ultimate

    Aside from the AT4 Ultimate, the 2025 Yukon will get updates including new styling, larger screens, second-row executive seating, and expanded availability of a 3.0-liter diesel engine to assist range and fuel economy compared with gas-powered models.
    The 2025 GMC Yukon will be produced at GM’s Arlington Assembly plant in Texas and is expected to be available by the end of 2024.

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    GM lays off more than 1,000 salaried software and services employees

    The layoffs include roughly 600 jobs at General Motors’ tech campus near Detroit.
    The layoffs represent about 1.3% of the company’s global salaried workforce of 76,000 as of the end of last year.

    A General Motors sign is seen during an event on January 25, 2022 in Lansing, Michigan. – General Motors will create 4,000 new jobs and retaining 1,000, and significantly increasing battery cell and electric truck manufacturing capacity.
    Jeff Kowalsky | AFP | Getty Images

    DETROIT – General Motors is laying off more than 1,000 salaried employees globally in its software and services division following a review to streamline the unit’s operations, CNBC has learned.
    The layoffs, including roughly 600 jobs at GM’s tech campus near Detroit, come less than six months after leadership changes overseeing the operations, including former Apple executive Mike Abbott leaving the automaker due to health reasons.

    “As we build GM’s future, we must simplify for speed and excellence, make bold choices, and prioritize the investments that will have the greatest impact,” a GM spokesman said in an emailed statement. “As a result, we’re reducing certain teams within the Software and Services organization. We are grateful to those who helped establish a strong foundation that positions GM to lead moving forward.”
    GM declined to disclose the entire number of layoffs, but a source familiar with the action confirmed more than 1,000 salaried employees would be laid off, including 600 in Warren, Michigan. Impacted employees were notified Monday morning.
    The layoffs represent about 1.3% of the company’s global salaried workforce of 76,000 as of the end of last year. That included about 53,000 U.S. salaried employees.
    The cuts come as automakers attempt to reduce costs and, in many instances, employee headcount amid fears of an industry downturn, and as they’re spending billions of dollars on emerging markets such as all-electric vehicles and so-called “software-defined vehicles.”
    Software, specifically monetizing it, has been a major focus for automakers, including GM, as it eyes recurring revenue opportunities such as subscriptions to boost profits.
    The software and services division covers a wide variety of areas for the automaker, including infotainment, its OnStar brand and emerging areas such as subscriptions and other vehicle features.

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    LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault’s family office goes shopping for AI startups

    Bernard Arnault, founder and CEO of LVMH, has made a string of artificial intelligence investments this year through his family office, called Aglaé Ventures.
    The largest funding round this year, according to Fintrx, was in a firm called H, formerly known as Holistic AI, a French startup that’s working toward full artificial general intelligence.
    While the amounts of Aglaé’s investments aren’t disclosed, the funding rounds for the AI firms totaled more than $300 million, according to Fintrx.

    World’s top luxury group LVMH head Bernard Arnault presents the group’s annual results 2022 in Paris on January 26, 2023.
    Stefano Rellandini | AFP | Getty Images

    A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
    Luxury king Bernard Arnault is shopping for AI companies.

    Arnault, founder and CEO of LVMH and the world’s fourth-richest person with a net worth of $184 billion, has made a string of artificial intelligence investments this year through his tech-focused venture firm and family office, called Aglaé Ventures.
    Aglaé made five AI-related investments in 2024, according to data provided exclusively to CNBC by Fintrx, the private wealth intelligence platform. While the amounts of Aglaé’s investments aren’t disclosed, the funding rounds for the AI firms totaled more than $300 million, according to Fintrx.
    The largest funding round this year, according to Fintrx, was in a firm called H, formerly known as Holistic AI, a French startup that’s working toward full artificial general intelligence. It was founded by former members of Google’s DeepMind AI unit and includes venture firm Accel Partners LP and Wendy and Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, as investors. The $220 million round in May, which also included Aglaé, valued H at $370 million, according to the company.

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    Aglaé also invested in a $25 million seed round for Lamini, a Palo Alto, California-based startup building enterprise AI applications. In April, Aglaé was part of a $12 million series A round for Proxima, a New York-based AI-powered digital marketing company.
    Aglaé joined Susquehanna to invest in the $27 million seed round for Toronto-based Borderless AI, a human resource management platform. And, it invested in Photoroom, a France-based AI image editor, as part of a $43 million investment round in February.

    While many of Aglaé’s AI investments are recent, it invested in four funding rounds between 2017 and 2019 in Paris-based Meero, an AI-powered photo creation company, according to Fintrx.
    The family office’s other investments this year were in Sonarverse, an Irvine, California-based blockchain company, and Shimmer, a San Francisco-based provider of ADHD coaching.
    Since 2017, Aglaé has made a total of 153 investments, according to Fintrx data, with 53 in technology, 17 in consumer goods, 13 in business services and 12 in financial services.
    Its other investments include Noom, a digital health platform, and World Music Media, a music creation app. Aglaé was part of multiple rounds of funding for Back Market, a French-based marketplace for refurbished electronics products that in 2022 reported a valuation of $5.7 billion.
    Since the Arnault family fortune is so heavily concentrated in LVMH, with the family owning about 48% of the shares and controlling 64% of the voting rights, Aglaé has little reason to invest in luxury.
    Arnault and his family are, however, big art collectors, and Aglaé was an investor in a $9.5 million funding round for LaCollection, a digital art platform. LVMH has expanded rapidly in the luxury watch segment and Aglaé was an investor in the $108 million funding round in 2021 for watch trading platform Chrono24.
    While famous for his dedication to luxury craftsmanship, historic brands, and emotional connections to designs and artists, Arnault is also a big technology fan with a history of backing successful tech startups. His family office was an early investor in Netflix in 1999, Spotify in 2014 and Airbnb in 2015.
    In a speech in May at the LVMH Innovation Awards, Arnault said he invested in 75 startups in the 1990s, and “some of them made it, but many didn’t.”
    “The startup mentality is very close to our values: creativity, quality — it has to work — an entrepreneurial spirit and meaning,” he said.

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