British billionaire Mike Lynch is among the six missing passengers of the Bayesian, Lynch’s 184-foot superyacht, which sank off the coast of Sicily, Italy on Monday, according to multiple media reports.
Lynch has been known in UK media as the “British Bill Gates” for his influence in the technology world, as well as for his wealth.
The ship sank during a violent storm after a gust of wind that nearby ship captain Karsten Borner described as a “strong hurricane gust,” according to CNBC.
After getting his own ship under control and firing a flare for help, Borner said he approached the ship and collected 15 survivors. Four of them were injured, with three being “heavily injured,” according to Borner.
He added that he had been careful not to let his boat contact the yacht during the storm, but after the gust of wind concluded, the yacht was gone.
Italian officials are still searching for the missing people. One crew member, a chef, is confirmed dead, according to Reuters.
Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, is among the survivors, but Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, is among those missing. Also among the missing are Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at Clifford Chance, Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and Bloomer’s wife, Judy, per Reuters.
The missing people include Americans, Canadians and Brits, according to NBC News.
Lynch’s co-defendant dies in separate incident
In June, Lynch was acquitted of fraud charges stemming from claims he made about his tech company, Autonomy, in the midst of selling it to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion. Stephen Chamberlain, Autonomy’s former vice president of finance, was a co-defendant in the case and was also acquitted, The Guardian reported.
HP alleged that the men had sought to inflate the company’s value before selling it.
The Guardian reported that Chamberlain died over the weekend while out for a run in the British village of Stretham, highlighting the eerie coincidence of both men being involved in accidents at nearly the same time.
After leaving Autonomy, Chamberlain worked for Darktrace, a cybersecurity firm, in addition to volunteering as a finance director for Cambridge United, a team in the English Football League’s third level of professional soccer, according to The Guardian.
“He was a courageous man with unparalleled integrity, and we deeply miss him,” said Gary Lincenberg, Chamberlain’s lawyer, of his client. “He fought successfully to clear his good name, which lives on through his wonderful family.”
