UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch among missing in Sicily yacht sinking
The British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch is missing after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily during a violent storm.
The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre sailboat, was carrying 22 people and anchored just off shore near the port of Porticello when it was hit by a tornado in the early hours, the Italian coastguard said in a statement.
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One man, understood to be the vessel’s chef, was confirmed dead and six others, including Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, remained unaccounted for on Monday evening. The coastguard said the missing had British, American and Canadian nationalities.
Fifteen people were rescued, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, who owned the boat, and a one-year-old girl who was saved by her mother.
A spokesperson for Lynch declined to
A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office said: “We are providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families following an incident in Sicily, and are in contact with the local authorities.”
Lynch co-founded Autonomy, a software firm that became one of the shining lights of the UK tech scene, in the mid-90s.
Once described as Britain’s Bill Gates, Lynch spent much of the last decade in court defending his name against allegations of fraud related to the sale of Autonomy to the US tech company Hewlett-Packard for $11bn.
The 59-year-old was acquitted by a jury in San Francisco in June, after he had spent more than a year living in effect under house arrest.
Upon his acquittal, Lynch told reporters: “I am looking forward to returning to the UK and getting back to what I love most: my family and innovating in my field.”
In a separate development on Monday, Lynch’s co-defendant at that trial, Stephen Chamberlain, died after being hit by a car while out running in Cambridgeshire.
Chamberlain, the former vice-president of finance at Autonomy, was hit on Saturday morning and had been placed on life support, Reuters reported.
In a statement Chamberlain’s lawyer, Gary Lincenberg, said he had died after being “fatally struck” by a car while out running.
Lincenberg added: “He was a courageous man with unparalleled integrity, and we deeply miss him. He fought successfully to clear his good name, which lives on through his wonderful family.”
Lynch was awarded an OBE for services to enterprise in 2006, and appointed in 2011 to the science and technology council of the then prime minister, David Cameron. He was elected as a fellow to the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2008 and the Royal Society in 2014.
The Italian coastguard said: “This morning at about 5am, following a violent storm, a 56-metre yacht called Bayesian flying the British flag sank near Porticello.”
The boat had a crew of 10 people and 12 passengers, it added.
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