Autonomy Tactic Drove Deloitte Auditor to 2 Glasses of Red

A Deloitte LLP partner needed a couple of glasses of red wine before he was ready to explain why a British software company was selling hardware.

Richard Knights, a veteran partner at the auditor, was emailing executives at Autonomy Corp. on an October evening with his thoughts on how they should record a transaction with EMC Corp. Autonomy wanted to purchase hardware and resell it for a loss to boost sales of its core software product.

“After a glass or two of red wine and a plate full” of “medieval pasta I’ve had a stab at writing the Autonomy paper,” ...