Mike Lynch is a 47-year-old British businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and former CEO of Autonomy Corporation, a software company he founded in 1996 and took public in 1998. Lynch grew up in New Milton, Hampshire, UK. His father was a self-employed engineer and his mother a schoolteacher. He has three sisters.

Lynch was educated at the independent King’s School in Winchester, before going on to study Natural Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge from 1985 to 1988. While at Cambridge, Lynch won the University Challenge quiz show with his team mates from Trinity Hall. He was also president of the Cambridge University Computer Society during his final year.

After graduating from Cambridge, Lynch worked for a number of different companies including Olivetti, HP, and SRI International. In 1996, he co-founded Autonomy Corporation with Dr. Ben Molyneux. The company was started in Lynch’s garage in Cambridge with just $200,000 of seed funding from venture capitalists.

The company pioneered a new type of software called “intelligent data analysis” or “IDA”. This technology allowed computers to understand the meaning of information, rather than just the keywords. IDA was initially used for text analytics and later extended to audio, video, and images.

Autonomy Corporation grew rapidly and was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1998. The company acquired a number of other businesses including Verity Inc., an American search company, for $500 million in 2005.

In 2011, Lynch stepped down as CEO of Autonomy Corporation but remained on the board as Chairman. The following year, the company was sold to HP for $10.3 billion. After the sale, Lynch left HP and started Invoke Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in technology companies.

Lynch has been awarded a number of honorary degrees and is a member of the UK government’s Council for Science and Technology. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to business and philanthropy.

Mike Lynch is married to Dr. Anna Reid and they have three children together. The family lives in London.

1. Mike Lynch is a self-made man who started out with just $200,000 in seed funding for his company, Autonomy Corporation.

2. Lynch is a University Challenge quiz show champion from his days at Trinity College, Cambridge.

3. The technology developed by Autonomy Corporation, called “intelligent data analysis”, revolutionized the way computers can understand information.

4. Autonomy Corporation was sold to HP for $10.3 billion in 2011 and Lynch left the company afterwards to start his own venture capital firm, Invoke Capital.

5. Mike Lynch has an estimated net worth of $1 billion and is married to Dr. Anna Reid with whom he has three children.

6. Lynch is a member of the UK government’s Council for Science and Technology and was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2012.

7. Mike Lynch has donated over $100 million to charity, including $50 million to Cambridge University.

8. In 2013, Lynch was awarded an honorary doctorate from Imperial College London.

9. He has also been awarded honorary degrees from the University of Essex, Anglia Ruskin University, and Brunel University London.

10. Mike Lynch is a keen sportsman and enjoys skiing, sailing, and windsurfing.

11. He is also a patron of the National Autistic Society and has campaigned for greater understanding and acceptance of autism.

12. In 2014, Mike Lynch was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by The Sunday Times newspaper.

13. In 2015, Lynch was appointed as a non-executive director of the UK government’s Department for Business, Innovation & Skills.

14. Mike Lynch is a vice president of the British Computer Society and a member of the Academy of Engineering.

15. He has also been appointed as a visiting professor at a number of universities, including Imperial College London and University College London.

16. In 2016, Mike Lynch was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in recognition of his “outstanding contribution to the field of information technology”.

17. In 2017, Lynch was appointed as the UK’s special representative for artificial intelligence.

18. Mike Lynch is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.

19. He is also a member of the advisory board for the Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s national institute for data science and artificial intelligence.

20. Mike Lynch is one of the most successful British entrepreneurs of his generation and his story is an inspiration to many.