Darktrace

At Darktrace's 2023 annual meeting, 56.67% of shareholders voted against the election of Patrick Jacob as a non-executive director representing Mike Lynch's interests. Institutional investors cited Lynch's US fraud trial as creating 'unhelpful headline risk' for Darktrace. Lynch later lost his right to a board seat entirely when his stake fell below 10%.

Quintessential Capital Management published a 70-page report alleging potential accounting errors at Darktrace, including 'channel stuffing' and 'round-tripping' to inflate revenue. The report referenced practices similar to those that sank Autonomy, the company founded by Darktrace investor Mike Lynch. EY's independent review found only 'small number of errors and inconsistencies' not material to financial statements.