Mike Lynch spent years fighting to exonerate himself of charges of fraud and conspiracy over the sale of his British software startup, Autonomy. When a clerk at the San Francisco federal courthouse read out the verdict of "not guilty" on June 6, Lynch, who had remained largely stoic throughout his three-month criminal trial, began to cry.

His co-defendant, former finance executive Stephen Chamberlain, had been acquitted, too. And before the clerk had even finished speaking, the courtroom erupted into a flurry of sobs, hugs and handshakes. Cries of elation and relief rang out through the gallery. In the hallway, Chamberlain sat on a bench, holding up his phone and beaming. He told the person on the other end that he couldn't wait to get home.