Jonathan Bloomer, who’s among the many lacking after a luxurious yacht sank off the coast of Sicily, capped an extended profession as an accountant and insurance coverage government with an uncommon star flip: defence witness in Mike Lynch’s San Francisco trial.
Lynch, who can also be lacking after the yacht Bayesian foundered in dangerous climate on Monday, was accused of fraud over the sale of his software program firm Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for $11bn in 2011.
The 70-year-old Bloomer, who was named to Autonomy’s board as a non-executive in 2010, informed the court docket in Could that Lynch “wasn’t notably within the finance aspect” and most well-liked to concentrate on technique and merchandise. A day later, Lynch took the stand himself and in June he was acquitted.
Bloomer and his spouse, Judy, who can also be lacking, had been among the many friends invited to Lynch’s yacht to have fun the victory.
Bloomer is greatest identified for his time on the helm of FTSE 100 insurer Prudential, which he joined as finance director from accountancy agency Arthur Andersen in 1995. Inside 5 years he had ascended to the highest job.
Aviva chair George Culmer, who was Prudential’s monetary controller, recalled a really sensible government who was all the time “gracious, charming, affable and truthful”. “He all the time constructed excellent groups,” mentioned Culmer. “Folks had been loyal to him. They’d observe him.”
Bloomer’s time as Prudential chief government was turbulent, coinciding with the dotcom crash and the 9/11 terrorist assaults in New York. Whereas he was credited with spearheading the group’s progress in Asia and bringing down prices, shareholders had been dealt quite a few disappointments that finally led to his exit after 5 years within the job.
First got here an unsuccessful multibillion-pound effort to purchase US insurer American Common and take up it into the Pru’s US arm in 2002, which was closely criticised by shareholders and knocked the corporate’s share value.
Then, in 2003, Bloomer reduce the dividend for the primary time because the first world struggle to shore up the corporate’s depleted capital, regardless of repeated assurances the group deliberate to maintain elevating the payout.
After the launch of a shock £1bn rights concern in 2004 and regardless of earlier assist from Prudential chair David Clementi, he was ousted in a boardroom coup and changed by Mark Tucker in 2005.
“He was not a pure CEO,” mentioned one former colleague. “He wasn’t ruthless sufficient. He was too trusting.”
After his decade at Prudential, Bloomer joined non-public fairness agency Cerberus Capital Administration as European accomplice, the place he remained for six years till 2012.
Within the years that adopted his exit from the Pru, Bloomer had a plural profession, combining a clutch of non-executive roles that included the place as audit committee chair at Autonomy that may put him on the centre of a case during which it was alleged Lynch’s software program firm falsely inflated its revenues.
Bloomer informed the court docket that he met Lynch at a convention within the early 2000s. Autonomy’s chairman, Robert Webb, approached him round 2010 in search of a board director who “understood the town” and will “take into consideration the way in which Autonomy was seen” there.
HP argued that Autonomy used lossmaking {hardware} gross sales to make up shortfalls in its quarterly revenues. Huge-ticket {hardware} gross sales would have been famous in Autonomy’s audit reviews, which might have been reviewed by Bloomer as a part of his boardroom position.
Throughout his testimony at trial, Bloomer defined that a number of the accounting later flagged as suspicious by US prosecutors was acceptable beneath UK guidelines.
Associates described Bloomer as a person of humble background who discovered it straightforward to attach with colleagues and encourage loyalty, whereas additionally sustaining a sure distance.
“He didn’t like hierarchy or standing,” mentioned one senior insurance coverage government. “However he additionally preferred to decorate effectively in good fits and he loved the finer issues in life.”
A physics graduate of Imperial Faculty London, Bloomer based a pension buyout enterprise, Lucida, backed by Cerberus, which was offered to Authorized & Common in 2013.
The crusing and rugby fanatic additionally served on the boards of a number of monetary providers corporations, together with authorized providers firm DWF Group and Arrow World, a European funding agency.
Sir Nicholas Lyons, the previous Lord Mayor who championed the Mansion Home Compact to advertise extra productive funding, mentioned Bloomer had been a eager advocate of the initiative.
“He was very supportive of the agenda and of getting monetary providers again into the highlight of the financial system,” Lyons mentioned.
Bloomer’s highest-profile current roles have been at Morgan Stanley Worldwide, the UK-based arm of the Wall Road financial institution, the place he has chaired the board since 2018, and London-listed insurer Hiscox, the place he has served as non-executive chair since final 12 months.
“We’re deeply shocked and saddened by this tragedy. Our ideas are with all these affected, particularly the Bloomer household, as all of us look forward to additional information from this horrible state of affairs,” a Morgan Stanley spokesperson mentioned.
Hiscox’s chief government Aki Hussain mentioned the corporate was “deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic occasion”.
Further reporting by Patrick Jenkins and Michael Acton
