TLDR:
- British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch’s body recovered from sunken yacht off Sicily coast
- Lynch was acquitted of fraud charges in June related to HP’s acquisition of Autonomy
- Five bodies retrieved from wreckage, including Lynch and his daughter Hannah
- Lynch was dubbed “Britain’s Bill Gates” for his role in UK tech industry
- The Bayesian yacht sank during a sudden storm with 22 passengers on board
British technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch, once hailed as “Britain’s Bill Gates,” has been found dead following the sinking of his luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily.
The 59-year-old’s body was recovered from the wreckage of the Bayesian, which capsized in a sudden storm on Monday morning.
Lynch was one of 22 passengers aboard the $18 million vessel when it encountered violent weather conditions near Porticello, in the province of Palermo. The Italian coastguard has confirmed that five bodies have been retrieved from the sunken yacht, which now lies 160 feet underwater.
Among the victims identified is Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah. The identities of the other recovered bodies have not been officially confirmed, though reports suggest they may include New York City attorney Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda, as well as Morgan Stanley executive Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy.
The tragic incident occurred just two months after Lynch’s acquittal in a high-profile U.S. fraud trial. Lynch had been facing charges related to the sale of his software company, Autonomy, to Hewlett-Packard for $11.7 billion in 2011.
The sale became controversial when HP wrote down Autonomy’s value by $8.8 billion within a year, alleging accounting irregularities.
Lynch’s career in technology began after his studies at Cambridge University, where he conducted groundbreaking research in pattern recognition and adaptive technology. In 1991, he founded Cambridge Neurodynamics with a £2,000 loan from a music manager. This venture later evolved into Autonomy, which Lynch took public in 1998.
Throughout the 2000s, Lynch became a prominent figure in the UK business world, serving as an adviser to two prime ministers and earning comparisons to Microsoft founder Bill Gates. His success with Autonomy culminated in its multi-billion dollar sale to HP in 2011.
However, the years following the acquisition were marked by legal battles on both sides of the Atlantic. While the UK’s Serious Fraud Office closed its case against Lynch in 2015 citing insufficient evidence, a London civil trial in 2022 ruled in favor of HP’s claims. Lynch spent a year under house arrest while awaiting extradition to the U.S. to face criminal charges.
In June 2024, a U.S. jury acquitted Lynch on 15 fraud charges, with his lawyers successfully arguing that prosecutors failed to prove he had committed fraud to meet revenue targets. The verdict marked a significant victory for Lynch after years of legal scrutiny.
Following the Autonomy sale, Lynch had turned his attention to venture capital, founding Invoke Capital in 2012. The firm invested in several successful tech companies, including cybersecurity firm Darktrace and AI company Luminance.
The Bayesian yacht disaster occurred while Lynch was celebrating his recent legal victory with friends and family. Of the 22 passengers on board, 15 managed to escape before the vessel capsized, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, and a 1-year-old child.
Maritime experts suggest that a rare and unexpected “black swan” weather event may have contributed to the yacht’s rapid sinking. The incident has shocked the tech and business communities, with many paying tribute to Lynch’s contributions to the industry.
Baroness Joanna Shields, a former managing director at Google and Facebook, described Lynch as someone who “saw possibilities before others could even conceive them,” adding that his passing was “devastating for his family, our industry, and this country.”
