Connections

Robert Webb QC is the new non-executive Chairman of BBC Worldwide, keeping an eye on Chief Executive John Smith (as is Sir Michael Lyons). Since January 2007 he has been a non-executive director sitting on the main BBC Executive Board, and retains that role, though stands down from the internal Fair Trading committee of the BBC. In May 2009, he became the chairman (paid) of Autonomy PLC. Since 2006 he has been non-executive director at Hakluyt, a firm which seems to deliver discreet corporate intelligence (though their website is just a logo and address) and is worth more research.

Dr Mike Lynch is the founder and Chief Executive of Autonomy Corporation PLC (paid). Since January 2007, he's been a non-executive director sitting on the main BBC Executive Board. In his declaration of interests - Autonomy supplies technology to the BBC but represents under 1% of Autonomy revenue.

From Autonomy's press fact sheet "Autonomy is a global leader in infrastructure software for the enterprise that helps organizations to derive meaning and value from their information, as well as mitigate the risks associated with those same assets. The company was founded in 1996 with a clear vision to dramatically change the way in which we interact with information and computers: Where computers adapt to our world rather than the other way around. With a global customer base of 20,000, more than 400 leading software vendors building their products on Autonomy technology, and a market capitalization over $4 billion, the company has grown into one of the most valuable software companies in the world"