Mike Lynch, the British technology entrepreneur who was recently acquitted in a massive £8 billion fraud case, has disappeared after his yacht sank off the coast of Sicily.
The incident comes just weeks after Lynch’s stunning legal victory, which saw him acquitted of fraud charges in a US court after a 13-year legal battle with tech giant HP.
Lynch, dubbed the “British Bill Gates,” was aboard his 56-metre yacht, named after a statistical method he used in his academic work, when it was hit by a freak storm off the coast of Palermo. His wife Angela Bakaris and several other passengers were rescued, but Lynch, his daughter Hannah and several others remain missing.
The sinking of the ship represents a tragic turn of events for Lynch, who recently celebrated his acquittal and announced his intention to challenge the UK’s extradition laws. Lynch, who founded software company Autonomy before selling it to HP for more than £8bn in 2011, had faced accusations of inflating the company’s value to secure the sale. Although he lost a civil case in the UK, he was found not guilty in a criminal trial in the US, a verdict that few expected.
Lynch’s yacht was sailing along the coast of Sicily when it ran into a storm. Local fishermen described seeing the vessel in distress before it sank, leaving debris scattered across the sea. Italian authorities are continuing to search for the missing passengers, but hopes are fading.
Lynch, who was worth an estimated $450 million, lived on a farm in Suffolk, where he raised rare breeds of cattle. Known for his pioneering work in the technology industry, Lynch also played a key role in founding cybersecurity firm Darktrace and was a prominent investor in the technology sector through his investment firm Invoke Capital.