SAN FRANCISCO, May 23 (Reuters) - Mike Lynch, the tech

founder once hailed as Britain's answer to Steve Jobs, denied

wrongdoing at his fraud trial on Thursday in connection with

Hewlett-Packard's disastrous $11 billion acquisition of his

software company in 2011.

Under questioning from his lawyer, Christopher Morvillo,

Lynch said he was not involved in the transactions that

prosecutors say amounted to a massive accounting fraud at

Autonomy, the company Lynch co-founded.

HP wrote down Autonomy's value by $8.8 billion in 2012,

saying it had uncovered serious accounting improprieties.

Lynch took the witness stand at the San Francisco trial for

the first time earlier on Thursday. He told jurors that others

were in charge of accounting and he was focused on Autonomy's

technology and marketing.

The tech entrepreneur defended his company, saying that

while Autonomy was not perfect and some things could have been

done better in hindsight, it was still a lucrative business.

"I think Autonomy was an extremely successful company. From

a financial point of view, it was highly profitable," Lynch

said.

The testimony is a pivotal moment for Lynch, who has been

embroiled in legal battles over the sale since it imploded and

now faces potential prison time if convicted.

Lynch and former Autonomy finance executive Stephen

Chamberlain face charges of fraud and conspiracy for allegedly

scheming to inflate the company's revenue starting in 2009, in

part to entice a buyer.

Prosecutors say the pair padded Autonomy's finances through

back-dated agreements and "round-trip" deals that fronted cash

to customers through fake contracts.

At the trial that began in mid-March, jurors have heard from

more than 30 government witnesses including Leo Apotheker, the

former HP chief executive who was fired weeks after the Autonomy

deal was announced.

Lynch's legal team has argued at trial that HP was so eager

to bag Autonomy and shut out potential competitors that it

rushed through due diligence before the sale.

Lynch's attorney said in opening arguments that the

Cambridge-educated entrepreneur was focused on tech issues and

left money matters to Sushovan Hussain, Autonomy's then-chief

financial officer.

Hussain was separately convicted in 2018 at a trial in the

same court. He was released from U.S. prison in January after

serving a five-year sentence.

Lynch was one of the UK's leading tech entrepreneurs,

drawing comparisons to Jobs, the Apple ( AAPL ) cofounder, as well as to

Microsoft's cofounder, Bill Gates.

In one of the biggest British tech deals at the time, the

Autonomy buy was meant to fuel HP's software business. Instead,

it spawned a series of bitter and expensive legal battles. HP

largely won a civil lawsuit against Lynch and Hussain in London

in 2022, though damages have not yet been decided. The company

is seeking $4 billion.

At that trial, Lynch was on the stand for 20 days.

Lynch said HP did not know what it was doing with Autonomy,

and was out of its depth in understanding his technology.