Another cautionary tale – the 2011 purchase of Autonomy by Hewlett Packard, described by prosecutors as the largest fraud in the history of Silicon Valley. HP bought Autonomy for $11.7 billion, but by November 2012 HP recorded an $8.8 billion impairment charge, alleging serious accounting improprieties, misrepresentations, and disclosure failures at Autonomy. What was the extent of due diligence including accounting analysis of Autonomy’s books prior to the acquisition?
https://www.ft.com/content/6c2b776d-e086-49e1-8987-48b4b9f7dd8b