HP Write-Off

HP announced an $8.8 billion write-off associated with the company's purchase of Autonomy, a British software company HP purchased for $11 billion last year. The reason for the write-off is that HP discovered Autonomy misrepresented not only its past performance but its prospects going forward. The fraud was evidently well hidden as the purchase was audited by Deloitte, which itself was audited by KPMG. HP has filed a complaint with the SEC as well as British securities regulators, with the hope that criminal charges will be filed. Civil charges against the officers of Autonomy also appear to be forthcoming.