British Tech Entrepreneur Mike Lynch Missing after tornado sinks luxury yacht off Sicily, Six people missing in Italy
Mike Lynch, a well-known British tech entrepreneur, is among several people missing after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily. The 59-year-old was aboard the luxury yacht "Bayesian" with his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, when the vessel encountered a violent storm near Palermo on Monday. The storm, described as unexpectedly severe, caused the yacht to sink rapidly, leaving several people unaccounted for, including Lynch and his daughter.
The yacht, a 56-meter vessel, was anchored near the port of Porticello when it was struck by the storm. Out of the 22 people on board, including 10 crew members, 15 were rescued, and one body was recovered. The missing individuals include people of British, American, and Canadian nationalities.
Eyewitnesses reported that the yacht disappeared quickly beneath the waves shortly before dawn. The Italian Coast Guard is leading the search and rescue operations, including divers inspecting the wreck, which lies at a depth of 49 meters. The cause of the sinking is under investigation, with prosecutors in Termini Imerese looking into the incident.
Lynch, known for founding the software company Autonomy, sold it to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011 for $11 billion. The deal later led to a legal battle, with Lynch being accused of fraudulently inflating Autonomy’s revenue. He faced potential decades in prison but was acquitted of the charges in June 2024.
The sinking of the Bayesian yacht, named after Bayesian theory—on which Lynch’s successful software was based—coincided with extreme weather conditions in Italy, attributed in part to record high temperatures in the Mediterranean Sea. The yacht, built in 2008 and refitted in 2020, was known for its innovative design and had won several awards. The vessel had last been tracked east of Palermo on Sunday evening before the tragic incident.
Who is British tech tycoon Mike Lynch?
Mike Lynch, born on June 16, 1965, is a prominent British tech entrepreneur best known for co-founding the software firm Autonomy in 1996. Often dubbed the UK's answer to Bill Gates, Lynch has made a significant impact on the global tech landscape.
Early Life and Education
Lynch grew up near Chelmsford in Essex, the son of a nurse and a fireman. He pursued Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, where he later earned a PhD in mathematical computing and undertook a research fellowship. His early work included the establishment of Cambridge Neurodynamics in 1991, a company focused on computer-based fingerprint detection.
Autonomy and Rise to Prominence
In 1996, Lynch founded Autonomy, a company that utilized Bayesian inference, a statistical method, at the core of its software. The company quickly grew throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, gaining recognition for its ability to extract and utilize data from various sources like phone calls, emails, and videos. Lynch's success earned him numerous awards, including an OBE in 2006 for his contributions to UK enterprise.
Sale to Hewlett-Packard and Legal Battles
In 2011, Lynch sold Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP) for $11 billion (£8.6 billion), earning approximately £500 million. However, the acquisition led to a lengthy legal battle when HP accused Lynch of inflating Autonomy's value by concealing the company's loss-making hardware business. Lynch was eventually acquitted of multiple fraud charges in the US in June 2024, after facing the possibility of two decades in jail.
Personal Life and Recent Events
Lynch married Angela Bacares, with whom he has two daughters. The family resides at the Loudham Hall estate in Suffolk. Lynch also established Invoke Capital, a tech investment firm that helped launch the British cybersecurity company Darktrace in 2013.
In August 2024, Lynch made headlines again when a 56-meter superyacht named Bayesian, linked to his family, sank off the coast of Sicily. His wife, Angela, was rescued, but Lynch remains missing. This tragic event coincided with the news that Stephen Chamberlain, Lynch's co-defendant in the fraud case, had died in a car accident in Cambridgeshire.
Despite the controversies and challenges, Mike Lynch remains a significant figure in the tech world, recognized for his innovations and contributions to the industry.
