Some weeks ago, I again slammed HP’s acquisition of Autonomy and forecasted a $4 billion dollar write down on the deal.  Well, I blew it.  Turns out the deal was far worse than even this vocal naysayer imagined.  Today, HP conceded that Autonomy was more scam than wham and took an $8.8 billion charge against the $10.3 billion purchase price of barely a year ago.  I’m guessing that HP is attributing some value to fancy teas in the break rooms.

In the final analysis, it can be safely concluded that the acquisition will indeed pump millions into the e-discovery economy as HP sues everyone in sight.  I wouldn’t want to be, say, KPMG or Deloitte, right about now, sheepishly defending my due diligence on the acquisition or the audit.  Has everyone lost the ability to gauge real value anymore?  Let the finger pointing begin!