british billionaire yacht

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Body of British tech billionaire Mike Lynch recovered off the coast of Sicily

Lynch’s superyacht, the bayesian, sank after being hit by a waterspout..

By Gaby Del Valle , a policy reporter. Her past work has focused on immigration politics, border surveillance technologies, and the rise of the New Right.

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The body of billionaire tech mogul Mike Lynch was recovered off the coast of Sicily, the Italian Coast Guard announced on Thursday. Lynch’s 184-foot superyacht, the Bayesian, sunk on August 19th, reportedly after being hit by a tornado over the water, called a waterspout. The yacht sank quickly, according to reports, even though its manufacturer claimed it was unsinkable.

Lynch was on the yacht with family and friends celebrating his acquittal on fraud charges in June. HP, which bought Lynch’s company, Autonomy, for $11 billion in 2011, had alleged “accounting improprieties” that misrepresented Autonomy’s value. In an interview with the BBC — the only broadcast interview before the yacht sank — Lynch said his wealth helped him deal with the decade-long legal battle.

The yacht was hit by a waterspout around 4AM local time, according to news reports . Fifteen people — including a baby — managed to escape on a life raft and were rescued by the crew of the Sir Robert Baden Powell, a Dutch ship that was anchored nearby. “They were all under shock,” Karsten Börner, the captain of the Sir Robert, told The New York Times .

Five other bodies were recovered, including that of Christopher Morvillo, one of the attorneys who defended Lynch in the HP trial. Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, is still unaccounted for.

Investigators are looking into why the Bayesian sank when other boats, including a nearby sailboat, were largely unaffected, The Associated Press reports. Börner, the Sir Robert’s captain, told AP that his ship also sustained minimal damage. 

Giovanni Costantino, the CEO of the Italian Sea Group — the company that owns the Bayesian’s manufacturer — described Lynch’s yacht as “one of the safest boats in the world” and said the accident likely occurred because the crew didn’t follow basic safety procedures. 

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Lynch Yacht Sinking Off Sicily Proves as Baffling as It Is Tragic

As bodies were recovered, the authorities and experts wondered how a $40 million, stable and secure vessel could have sunk so quickly.

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By Emma Bubola and Michael J. de la Merced

Emma Bubola reported from Porticello, Italy, and Michael J. de la Merced from London.

Two months after being cleared in a bruising legal battle over fraud charges, the British tech mogul Mike Lynch celebrated his freedom with a cruise. He invited his family, friends and part of his legal team on board his luxury sailing yacht, a majestic 180-foot vessel named Bayesian after the mathematical theorem around which he had built his empire.

On Sunday night, after a tour of the Gulf of Naples, including Capri, and volcanic islands in the Eolian archipelago, the boat anchored half a mile off the Sicilian coast in Porticello, Italy. It chose a stretch of water favored by the Phoenicians thousands of years ago for its protection from the mistral wind and, in more recent times, by the yachts of tech billionaires. The boat was lit “like a Christmas tree,” local residents said, standing out against the full moon.

But about 4 a.m., calamity unfolded. A violent and fast storm hit the area with some of the strongest winds locals said they had ever felt. Fabio Cefalù, a fisherman, said he saw a flare pierce the darkness shortly after 4.

Minutes later, the yacht was underwater. Only dozens of cushions from the boat’s deck and a gigantic radar from its mast floated on the surface of the sea, fishermen said.

In all, 22 people were on board, 15 of whom were rescued. Six bodies — five passengers and the ship’s cook — had been recovered by Thursday afternoon, including that of Mr. Lynch, an Italian government official said, adding that the search was continuing for his daughter.

It was a tragic and mystifying turn of events for Mr. Lynch, 59, who had spent years seeking to clear his name and was finally inaugurating a new chapter in his life. Experts wondered how a $40 million yacht, so robust and stable could have been sunk by a storm near a port within minutes.

“It drives me insane,” said Giovanni Costantino, the chief executive of the Italian Sea Group, which in 2022 bought the company, Perini, that made the Bayesian. “Following all the proper procedures, that boat is unsinkable.”

The aura of misfortune only deepened when it emerged that Stephen Chamberlain, 52, a former vice president of finance for Mr. Lynch’s former company and a co-defendant in the fraud case, was killed two days earlier, when he was hit by a car while jogging near his house in England.

Since June, the two men had been in a jubilant mood. A jury in San Francisco had acquitted both on fraud charges that could have sent them to prison for two decades. There were hugs and tears, and they and their legal teams went for a celebratory dinner party at a restaurant in the city, said Gary S. Lincenberg, a lawyer for Mr. Chamberlain.

The sea excursion was meant as a thank-you by Mr. Lynch to those who had helped him in his legal travails. Among the guests was Christopher J. Morvillo, 59, a scion of a prominent New York family of lawyers who had represented Mr. Lynch for 12 years. He and his wife, Neda, 57, were among the missing.

So, too, was Jonathan Bloomer, 70, a veteran British insurance executive who chaired Morgan Stanley International and the insurer Hiscox.

The body of the ship’s cook, Recaldo Thomas, was recovered. All the other crew members survived. Among them was Leo Eppel, 19, of South Africa, who was on his first yacht voyage working as a deck steward, said a friend, who asked not to be identified.

Since the sinking, the recovery effort and investigation have turned the tiny port town of Porticello, a quiet enclave where older men sit bare-chested on balconies, into what feels like the set of a movie.

Helicopters have flown overhead. Ambulances have sped by with the sirens blaring. The Coast Guard has patrolled the waters off shore, within sight of a cordoned-off dock that had been turned into an emergency headquarters.

On Wednesday afternoon, a church bell tolled after the first body bag was loaded into an ambulance, a crowd watching in silence.

The survivors were sheltering in a sprawling resort near Porticello, with a view of the shipwreck spot, and had so far declined to comment.

Attilio Di Diodato, director of the Italian Air Force’s Center for Aerospace Meteorology and Climatology, said that the yacht had most likely been hit by a fierce “down burst” — when air generated within a thunderstorm descends rapidly — or by a waterspout , similar to a tornado over water.

He added that his agency had put out rough-sea warnings the previous evening, alerting sailors about storms and strong winds. Locals said the winds “felt like an earthquake.”

Mr. Costantino, the boat executive, said the yacht had been specifically designed for having a tall mast — the second-tallest aluminum mast in the world. He said the Bayesian was an extremely safe and secure boat that could list even to 75 degrees without capsizing.

But he said that if some of the hatches on the side and in the stern, or some of the deck doors, had been open, the boat could have taken on water and sunk. Standard procedure in such storms, he said, is to switch on the engine, lift the anchor and turn the boat into the wind, lowering the keel for extra stability, closing doors and gathering the guests in the main hall inside the deck.

12 guests occupied the yacht’s six cabins. There were also 10 crew members.

Open hatches, doors and cabin windows could have let in water during a storm, according to the manufacturer.

Open hatches, doors and

cabin windows could

have let in water

during a storm,

according to the

manufacturer.

Source: Superyacht Times, YachtCharterFleet, MarineTraffic

By Veronica Penney

The New York Times attempted to reach the captain, James Cutfield, who had survived, for comment through social media, his brother and the management company of the yacht (which did not hire the crew), but did not make contact.

So far none of the surviving crew members have made a public statement about what happened that night.

Fabio Genco, the director of Palermo’s emergency services, who treated some of the survivors, said that the victims had recounted feeling as if the boat was being lifted, then suddenly dropped, with objects from the cabins falling on them.

The Italian Coast Guard said it had deployed a remotely operated vehicle that can prowl underwater for up to seven hours at a depth of more than 980 feet and record videos and images that they hoped would help them reconstruct the dynamics of the sinking. Such devices were used during the search and rescue operations of the Titan vessel that is believed to have imploded last summer near the wreckage of the Titanic.

After rescuers broke inside the yacht, they struggled to navigate the ropes and many pieces of furniture cluttering the vessel, said Luca Cari, a spokesman for Italy’s national firefighter corps.

Finally, as of Thursday morning, they had managed to retrieve all but one of the missing bodies, and hopes of finding the missing person alive were thin. “Can a human being be underwater for two days?” Mr. Cari asked.

What was certain was that Mr. Lynch’s death was yet another cruel twist of fate for a man who had spent years seeking to clear his name.

He earned a fortune in technology and was nicknamed Britain’s Bill Gates. But for more than a decade, he had been treated as anything but a respected tech leader.

He was accused by Hewlett-Packard, the American technological pioneer that had bought his software company, Autonomy, for $11 billion, of misleading it about his company’s worth. (Hewlett-Packard wrote down the value of the transaction by about $8.8 billion, and critics called it one of the worst deals of all time .) He had been increasingly shunned by the British establishment that he sought to break into after growing up working-class outside London.

He was extradited to San Francisco to face criminal charges, and confined to house arrest and 24-hour surveillance on his dime. In a townhouse in the Pacific Heights neighborhood — with security people he jokingly told associates were his “roommates” — he spent his mornings talking with researchers whom he funded personally on new applications for artificial intelligence. Afterward, he devoted hours to discussing legal strategy with his team.

Despite his persistent claims of innocence, even those close to Mr. Lynch had believed his odds of victory were slim. Autonomy’s chief financial officer, Sushovan Hussain, was convicted in 2018 of similar fraud charges and spent five years in prison.

During Mr. Lynch’s house arrest, his brother and mother died. His wife, Angela Bacares, frequently flew over from England, and she became a constant presence in the San Francisco courtroom during the trial.

After he was finally acquitted, Mr. Lynch had his eye on the future. “I am looking forward to returning to the U.K. and getting back to what I love most: my family and innovating in my field,” he said.

Elisabetta Povoledo contributed reporting from Pallanza, Italy.

Emma Bubola is a Times reporter based in Rome. More about Emma Bubola

Michael J. de la Merced has covered global business and finance news for The Times since 2006. More about Michael J. de la Merced

Watch CBS News

Body of last victim left missing after tech magnate Mike Lynch's family yacht sank off Sicily is recovered

By Anna Matranga

Updated on: August 23, 2024 / 8:12 AM EDT / CBS News

Divers have recovered the remains of the last person who was left missing when the superyacht Bayesian sank early Monday off the coast of Sicily, the head of the island's Civil Protection agency, Salvo Cocina, told CBS News on Friday. The body has been brought to shore, not been formally identified. 

It is believed to be that of Hannah Lynch, British  tech magnate Mike Lynch 's 18-year-old daughter, according to Italian media. 

Mike Lynch's body was retrieved Thursday from inside the sunken vessel, which was left resting on the seabed at a depth of more than 160 feet, at a 90 degree angle, making rescue efforts complicated and dangerous. 

Shortly after the 184-foot luxury sailing yacht sank, the body of the ship's cook was recovered from the water near the wreck. Divers managed to retrieve four other bodies from the Bayesian on Wednesday, including two Americans.

With the recovery of the body on Friday, the total number of victims rises to seven, accounting fully for all of those who were on the boat owned by Mike Lynch's wife Angela Bacares. 

Fifteen people survived the sinking, including Bacares. The survivors were found on a life raft by the captain of a boat that had been anchored nearby.

Prosecutors have been questioning survivors and witnesses to determine what could have caused the luxury superyacht, equipped with state-of-the-art safety equipment, to sink within what witnesses said was a matter of minutes during a storm. 

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British tech billionaire Mike Lynch confirmed dead after yacht sinking

He was recently acquitted of 15 counts of fraud in the us..

UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, 59, has been confirmed dead after multiple days of search and rescue efforts, multiple news agencies report . The 183-foot super-yacht, Bayesian, capsized off the coast of Sicily around 5 AM local time on Monday morning during a violent storm. Lynch was one of 22 individuals on board, including passengers and crew, with 15 individuals rescued and one body found immediately following the events. Five more bodies, including Lynch's, have since been recovered. At this time, his daughter is the only person still missing, Reuters reports , citing sources close to the rescue operation.

Lynch co-founded tech companies Autonomy and Darktrace and founded venture capital firm Invoke Capital. Following the $11 billion sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard , Lynch has spent the past decade-plus engulfed in a legal battle over allegations of inflating sales and misleading HP . A San Francisco jury acquitted him in June of all 15 counts of fraud.

The yacht excursion was meant to celebrate Lynch's recent victory, with family, friends, and business associates joining him. Other members of the deceased include the yacht's chef, Neda and Chris Morvillo, a Clifford Chance lawyer who represented Lynch and Judy and Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive chairman of Morgan Stanley International. Angela Bacares, Lynch's wife, escaped the wreckage and is safe.

Lynch's co-defendant, Stephen Chamberlain, 52, also faced tragedy this week. The BBC reports he was hit by a car on Saturday, August 17, while out running in Cambridgeshire, England, and died from his injuries.

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Tech tycoon Mike Lynch among the dead in superyacht wreck off the Italian coast

• The British billionaire Mike Lynch was among those who died in a superyacht sinking off Sicily's coast.
• Lynch, a cofounder of Autonomy, was recently acquitted in a decadelong fraud case with HP.
• Another body was found on Friday, per local media, bringing the death toll to 7.

The British billionaire and tech tycoon Mike Lynch was among the dead in the sinking of the superyacht he was vacationing on near Sicily.

Lynch's body was among those taken from the yacht on Thursday morning.

Italian Coastguard told Sky News divers have discovered another body from the superyacht on Friday, the last of six people missing.

Authorities haven't confirmed whose body it was.

The 183-foot ship Bayesian was carrying 22 total passengers and crew, most of whom survived.

Among the missing were Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah; the Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda; and Morgan Stanley International's chair, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife, Judy.

Fifteen people were rescued, including Mike Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares .

Italian authorities are investigating the cause of the sinking.

Brent Hoberman, a British entrepreneur and friend of Lynch's, told Sky News that his death was "unbelievably tragic."

"We were all hoping for a miracle — we knew it was unlikely, but you still hold out hope," Hoberman said.

Related stories

He called Lynch an "inspiring figure" in the tech community and said he should be remembered for his accomplishments.

Lynch, 59, was a former UK government advisor who founded the British software company Autonomy in 1996. By 2011, the company was so successful that Hewlett-Packard agreed to buy it for $11 billion.

But in 2012, HP alleged that $5 billion of that acquisition was due to "accounting irregularities" that caused HP to dramatically overpay.

A decadelong legal battle culminated last year when Lynch was extradited to the US on charges that he had committed fraud by falsely inflating the value of his company.

In June this year, a San Francisco jury acquitted Lynch, who had maintained his innocence from the beginning.

"It's just so unbelievably tragic for him to go through what he went through over the last 12 years, defending his name and not really living a full life, to now for his death to be confirmed is obviously incredibly sad," Hoberman told Sky News.

Danny Fortson, a journalist at The Sunday Times, was the first person to interview Lynch after his acquittal for a story published in late July .

Fortson told Business Insider that Lynch was excited for a chance at a second life after spending more than a decade caught up worrying about whether he'd go to prison.

"He struck me as somebody who was really reeling from his situation," Fortson said. "I think he was a little bit still in shock because he had been under this cloud for so long, and the consequences were so grave if he lost. I think he was really at a little bit at a loss of trying to figure out what to do with himself, how to feel, struggling with his emotions."

Fortson added: "I think his first order of business was to do nothing, to try to make up for lost time. And I think that's what this boat trip was about, very sadly."

On Saturday — two days before the shipwreck — Lynch's codefendant in the US fraud cause, Stephen Chamberlain, was hit by a car while jogging and killed.

"It's almost like a Greek tragedy, what has happened to him and Chamberlain in the past few days," Richard Holway MBE, an IT analyst and friend of Lynch, told BI.

Holway also reflected on Lynch's legacy as a boss and entrepreneur.

"Even though people say that perhaps he was a hard person to work for, I think people actually liked somebody who can be tough and hard and make sure that things get done. And I think he was one of those people," Holway said, adding that Lynch liked loyalty and always repaid it.

Another friend of Lynch, Common Current CEO Warren Karlenzig who knew Lynch in the '90s, told BI that Lynch enjoyed coming over from England and hanging out at Karlenzig's offices.

"He would like to just shoot the breeze about Bayesian logic, which Autonomy was based off of, and Thomas Bayes," Karlenzig said, adding that Bayes, who was Lynch's hero, also died at age 59.

"I saw the HP buyout and all the controversy with that, and I was questioning, 'Is that the same person?' because he looked so different from the superenergetic, alternative-looking guy with longer hair and a goatee," Karlenzig said of Lynch.

He added that people in Silicon Valley "are shocked that this tragedy happened and that such wealth could not buy security."

In the weeks following his acquittal, Lynch told Fortson that he had grown more spiritual and was considering what he called "Saint Peter questions" about heaven and hell and what it all means.

"I'd had to say goodbye to everything and everyone because I didn't know if I'd ever be coming back," Lynch told Fortson for The Sunday Times. "If this had gone the wrong way, it would have been the end of life as I have known it in any sense."

• Main content

Mike Lynch: British entrepreneur missing after Bayesian yacht sinks off Sicilian coast

Sky News understands the yacht is owned by the family of Mr Lynch, a tycoon mathematician who has been called the UK's first tech billionaire and the British Bill Gates.

Sunday 25 August 2024 08:52, UK

British tech billionaire Mike Lynch is missing off Sicily's coast after a yacht sank.

One person is dead and six others are missing after a UK-flagged superyacht named Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily in a storm .

Follow live: Superyacht sinks latest

Local media reports that Mr Lynch's 18-year-old daughter is among those missing - while his wife Angela Bacares is confirmed to be among the 15 people who were rescued.

Sky News also understands the yacht - which is believed to have been named after a mathematical equation - is owned by the family of Mr Lynch.

A recently freed man

It comes just weeks after Mr Lynch, 59, was in June cleared of all charges by a US jury in the high-profile fraud case related to the sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.

Read more: Lynch's co-defendant dies after being hit by car days before yacht sinking We can learn from Lynch's extradition and unsuccessful prosecution

He had been accused of conspiracy and attempted fraud over the £8.3bn sale to HP - a deal that had been subject to costly legal action since. For more than a year he remained under house arrest while awaiting trial and spent a night in custody.

Politicians and business leaders alike protested vehemently at his extradition to the US to face charges arguing that, if there was a case to be heard, it should be heard in the UK as Autonomy was a UK-listed, UK-regulated and UK-audited company.

It was the biggest tech takeover of a FTSE 100 firm at the time - but HP wrote down £5.5bn of Autonomy's value within a year, claiming revenue streams were inflated.

A mathematician who specialised in probability, he would have been aware of the odds being stacked against him in the US trial. The vast majority of defendants agree to plead guilty to a lesser sentence.

Analysis by the Pew Research Centre thinktank suggested that, in 2022, just 0.4% of defendants in US federal criminal cases went to trial and were acquitted. Had he been convicted, he could have faced 20 years in jail.

Danny Fortson, US West Coast correspondent for The Sunday Times, who interviewed Mr Lynch just over a month ago told Sky News that after being found not guilty, the tycoon said he had been given a "second life".

"When I met him... the thing that struck me was he was in a state of shock," Mr Fortson said. "He was fighting fraud charges that threatened to put him in jail for the rest of his life for more than a decade, and he won against all the odds.

"He kept saying: 'I have a second life, I have a new lease of life' and 'I have won my freedom, and now I have got to figure out what to do with the rest of my life'.

"He was in a state of shock and real gratitude that he had put this huge case that had hung over his head behind him."

During his house arrest, My Lynch only had the company of a sheepdog called Faucet, who, Mr Fortson said, was almost "surgically attached" to the mathematician as they spent 24 hours a day together for more than a year.

"The dog was very protective of him and he obviously loved the dog very much," Mr Fortson said.

While he won the US case Mr Lynch did lose a multi-billion pound fraud action brought to the High Court by HP.

It found that HP had "substantially" succeeded in its civil case but indicated that the firm would get considerably less than the $5bn (£3.7bn) it had sought in damages.

Who is Mike Lynch?

The Serious Fraud Office looked into the acquisition but in 2015 dropped its investigation .

As a serial entrepreneur, Ilford-born Mr Lynch has been described as the British Bill Gates and the UK's first tech billionaire.

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His firefighter father was from County Cork and his mother was a nurse from County Tipperary in Ireland.

In 2023, The Sunday Times rich list valued him and his wife at £852m.

Ms Bacares is confirmed as being among the rescued.

He co-founded cyber-security business Darktrace, another former FTSE 100 company. But his connections to the company, at a time when he was facing serious charges, depressed its share price and made it vulnerable to a US private equity company takeover, Mr Lynch said.

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This prediction was proved right in April when US private equity firm Thoma Bravo agreed to a £4.2bn takeover of Darktrace.

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• Superyacht sinking

Who is Mike Lynch? A look at the British tech tycoon missing from a sunken yacht in Sicily

He's been called the british version of microsoft co-founder bill gates or apple co-founder steve jobs, by michael liedtke | the associated press • published august 20, 2024 • updated on august 20, 2024 at 2:08 pm.

Tech tycoon Mike Lynch, one of six people missing from a sunken yacht off Sicily , had been trying to move past a Silicon Valley debacle that had tarnished his legacy as an icon of British ingenuity.

Lynch, 59, struck gold when he sold Autonomy, a software maker he founded in 1996, to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011. But the deal quickly turned into an albatross for him after he was accused of cooking the books to make the sale and fired by HP’s then-CEO Meg Whitman.

He was cleared of criminal charges in the U.S. in June, but still faced a potentially huge bill stemming from a civil case in London.

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A decade-long legal battle had resulted in his extradition from the U.K. to face criminal charges of engineering a massive fraud against HP, a company that helped shape Silicon Valley's zeitgeist after starting in a Palo Alto, California, garage in 1939.

Lynch steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, asserting that he was being made a scapegoat for HP's own bungling — a position he maintained while testifying before a jury during a 2 1/2 month trial in San Francisco earlier this year. U.S. Justice Department prosecutors called more than 30 witnesses in an attempt to prove allegations that Lynch engaged in accounting duplicity that bilked billions of dollars from HP.

The trial ended up vindicating Lynch and he pledged to return to the U.K. and explore new ways to innovate.

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US & World

Missing revealed as divers search superyacht that sank in storm off Sicily

British tech magnate Mike Lynch, 2 US citizens among missing after luxury yacht sinks off Sicily

Mike Lynch-backed legal tech startup Luminance raises $40 million, capitalizing on AI hype

Although he avoided a possible prison sentence, Lynch still faced the civil case in London that HP mostly won during 2022. Damages haven't been determined in that case, but HP is seeking $4 billion. Lynch made more than $800 million from the Autonomy sale.

Before becoming entangled with HP, Lynch was widely hailed as a visionary who inspired descriptions casting him as the British version of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Lynch, a Cambridge-educated mathematician, made his mark running Autonomy, which made a search engine that could pore through emails and other internal business documents to help companies find vital information more quickly. Autonomy's steady growth during its first decade resulted in Lynch being awarded one of the U.K's highest honors, the Office of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2006.

In the months leading up to the deal that would go awry, HP valued Autonomy at $46 billion, according to evidence presented at Lynch's trial.

The trial also presented contrasting portraits of Lynch. Prosecutors painted him as an iron-fisted boss obsessed with hitting revenue targets, even if it meant resorting to duplicity. But his lawyers cast him as entrepreneur with integrity and a prototypical tech nerd who enjoyed eating cold pizza late at night while pondering new ways to innovate.

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Five Bodies Located After Superyacht Disaster in Sicily

Officials said divers have been limited to 12-minute underwater shifts off the Italian coast.

Josh Fiallo

Breaking News Reporter

Louiza Vradi/Retuers

Authorities in Sicily have located five bodies during rescue efforts after a superyacht sank in the Mediterranean Sea on Monday.

Rescuers were seen carrying four body bags ashore in the Italian city of Porticello, the Associated Press reported. A fifth body was also located the same day, Salvatore Cocina, the head of Sicily's civil protection service, told the news service.

A total of six people were reported missing after the disaster, leaving one person still unaccounted for.

Two of the bodies were identified as billionaire tech mogul Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported. The Italian press has not confirmed the deaths of either person.

Sources familiar with rescue efforts confirmed to The Independent that the bodies were found “behind two mattresses” inside the Bayesian by dive teams, which have worked in 12-minute shifts because of water pressure.

The Bayesian, an 184-foot sailing vessel, was struck by a waterspout and sank off the Sicilian coast around 5 a.m. Monday morning with 22 people aboard. That included Lynch, 59, as well as his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah.

Divers have worked in 12-minute shifts to reach the sunken yacht and search for bodies or survivors.

Louiza Vradi/Reuters

Four others were said to be among the missing on Monday, including the Morgan Stanley chairman Jonathan Bloomer; his wife, Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo; and his wife, Neda Morvillo. The body of the Canadian chef Recaldo Thomas was the first found on Monday.

A source told the Independent that one of the bodies appeared to be that of a “heavily built man.” Photos showed first responders carrying a green body bag. Fifteen people, including Lynch’s wife, survived the terrifying ordeal.

Salvo Cocina, president of the Civil Protection Agency in Sicily, told the Daily Mail that rescuers won’t rule out the possibility of air pockets keeping someone alive—even as that possibility feels more and more unrealistic.

“The divers have not yet reached the cabins, so we have not yet given up hope that there may be air pockets in their keeping them alive,” she said.

The Bayesian was photographed from the Sicilian coast just hours before it sank early Monday morning.

Baia Santa Nicolicchia/Fabio La Bianca

Lynch is said to have been on a celebratory trip with his legal team and loved ones after being acquitted in a U.S. fraud trial in June, which is why so many bankers and attorneys were aboard.

The yacht’s 51-year-old captain, James Cutfield, was reportedly interviewed by police for more than two hours on Tuesday evening. His brother has attested that the Bayesian tragedy has nothing to do with his Cutfield, reported the New Zealand Herald .

CCTV footage released Tuesday shown the Bayesian’s final moments afloat, with a Sicilian villa owner claiming that vessel disappeared entirely in less than 60 seconds—seemingly not enough time for everyone aboard to abandon ship.

“You can see the ship disappear,” he told Giornale Di Sicilia . “There was nothing that could be done for the boat. It disappeared in a very short time.”

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Meet Mike Lynch, the British billionaire tycoon who’s gone missing after his yacht sunk in Italy

Tech tycoon Mike Lynch, one of  six people missing  from a sunken yacht off Sicily, had been trying to move past a Silicon Valley debacle that had tarnished his legacy as an icon of British ingenuity.

Lynch, 59, struck gold when he sold Autonomy, a software maker he founded in 1996, to Hewlett-Packard  for $11 billion in 2011 . But the deal quickly turned into an  albatross for him  after he was accused of cooking the books to make the sale and fired by HP’s then-CEO Meg Whitman.

He was  cleared of criminal charges  in the U.S. in June, but still faced a potentially huge bill stemming from a civil case in London.

A decade-long legal battle had resulted in his extradition from the U.K. to face criminal charges of engineering a massive fraud against HP, a company that helped shape Silicon Valley’s zeitgeist after starting in a Palo Alto, California, garage in 1939.

Lynch steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, asserting that he was being made a scapegoat for HP’s own bungling — a position he maintained while testifying before a jury during a 2 1/2 month trial in San Francisco earlier this year. U.S. Justice Department prosecutors called more than 30 witnesses in an attempt to prove allegations that Lynch engaged in accounting duplicity that bilked billions of dollars from HP.

The trial ended up vindicating Lynch and he pledged to return to the U.K. and explore new ways to innovate.

Although he avoided a possible prison sentence, Lynch still faced the civil case in London that HP mostly won during 2022. Damages haven’t been determined in that case, but HP is seeking $4 billion. Lynch made more than $800 million from the Autonomy sale.

Before becoming entangled with HP, Lynch was widely hailed as a visionary who inspired descriptions casting him as the British version of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Lynch, a Cambridge-educated mathematician, made his mark running Autonomy, which made a search engine that could pore through emails and other internal business documents to help companies find vital information more quickly. Autonomy’s steady growth during its first decade resulted in Lynch being awarded one of the U.K’s highest honors, the Office of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2006.

In the months leading up to the deal that would go awry, HP valued Autonomy at $46 billion, according to evidence presented at Lynch’s trial.

The trial also  presented contrasting portraits  of Lynch. Prosecutors painted him as an iron-fisted boss obsessed with hitting revenue targets, even if it meant resorting to duplicity. But his lawyers cast him as entrepreneur with integrity and a prototypical tech nerd who enjoyed eating cold pizza late at night while pondering new ways to innovate.

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British billionaire among missing people after storm in Italy sinks superyacht

British billionaire mike lynch is among the 6 missing people after a british superyacht sank in italian waters.

By Brogan Houston

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.”

Trove of top-secret information may be trapped on $40M Bayesian yacht after deadly capsize: report

A trove of top-secret documents and confidential data on foreign governments could be trapped inside the doomed Bayesian superyacht after the $40 million vessel capsized last month, killing its billionaire owner and six others last month, according to a report.

Italian prosecutors ordered heightened security around the sunken boat to protect the sensitive information that they believe was stored in water-tight safes before the Aug. 19 tragedy, sources told CNN.

Among the loot are two super-encrypted hard drives that hold highly classified information, including passcodes and other sensitive data, tied to a number of Western intelligence services, an official involved in the salvage plans said.

They likely belonged to Lynch , who was associated with British, American and other intelligence services through his various companies, including the cyber security company he founded, Darktrace.

He also served as an adviser to two British prime ministers on science, technology and cyber security during their tenures.

Shipwreck survivors previously told prosecutors that Lynch — dubbed the British Steve Jobs — “did not trust cloud services” and always kept data drives in a secure compartment of the yacht wherever he sailed, a source told CNN.

The information could be of interest to foreign governments, including Russia and China, prompting prosecutors to request that the yacht be guarded by both above-surface and underwater surveillance.

“A formal request has been accepted and implemented for additional security of the wreckage until it can be raised,” an official with the Sicilian civil protection authority confirmed to CNN.

If approved, the wreckage will be monitored consistently until it is raised in the coming weeks as part of a criminal probe against the ship’s captain and two of his staff members for charges of manslaughter and negligent shipwreck.

Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah and five others were killed when a sudden squall of tornado-like waterspouts pummeled the superyacht, causing it to sink.

The other victims included the ship’s chef, Ricardo Thomas, New York City attorney Christopher Morvillo and his wife, Neda ; and Morgan Stanley executive Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy .

Angela Bacares, Lynch’s wife and Hannah’s mother, was among 15 people who escaped the 184-foot luxury yacht .

The exact cause of the yacht’s sinking remains unknown, however, Italian prosecutors are probing whether the actions of Captain James Cutfield, 51, may have led to tragedy .

Under maritime law, a ship’s captain assumes full responsibility for safety of the vessel, its crew and all passengers.

10 of the most impressive superyachts owned by billionaires

From a sailing yacht owned by a russian billionaire industrialist to the luxury launch of the patek philippe ceo, here are the best billionaire-owned boats on the water….

Words: Jonathan Wells

There’s something about billionaires and big boats . Whether they’re superyachts or megayachts, men with money love to splash out on these sizeable sea-going giants. And that all began in 1954 — with the big dreams of Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.

Onassis, keen to keep his luxury lifestyle afloat when at sea, bought Canadian anti-submarine frigate HMCS Stormont after World War II. He spent millions turning it into an opulent super yacht, named it after his daughter — and the Christina O kicked off a trend among tycoons. To this day, the world’s richest men remain locked in an arms race to build the biggest, fastest, most impressive superyacht of all. Here are 10 of our favourites…

Eclipse, owned by Roman Abramovich

Built by: Blohm+Voss of Hamburg, with interiors and exteriors designed by Terence Disdale. Launched in 2009, it cost $500 million (the equivalent of £623 million today).

Owned by: Russian businessman Roman Abramovich, the owner of private investment company Millhouse LLC and owner of Chelsea Football Club. His current net worth is $17.4 billion.

Key features: 162.5 metres in length / 9 decks / Top speed of 22 knots / Two swimming pools / Disco hall / Mini submarine / 2 helicopter pads / 24 guest cabins

Sailing Yacht A, owned by Andrey Melnichenko

Built by: Nobiskrug, a shipyard on the Eider River in Germany. The original idea came from Jacques Garcia, with interiors designed by Philippe Starck and a reported price tag of over $400 million.

Owned by: Russian billionaire industrialist Andrey Melnichenko, the main beneficiary of both the fertiliser producing EuroChem Group and the coal energy company SUEK. Though his current net worth is $18.7 billion, Sailing Yacht A was seized in Trieste on 12 March 2022 due to the EU’s sanctions on Russian businessmen.

Key features: 119 metres in length / 8 decks / Top speed of 21 knots / Freestanding carbon-fibre rotating masts / Underwater observation pod / 14 guests

Symphony, owned by Bernard Arnault

Built by: Feadship, the fabled shipyard headquartered in Haarlem in The Netherlands. With an exterior designed by Tim Heywood, it reportedly cost around $150 million to construct.

Owned by: French billionaire businessman and art collector Bernard Arnault. Chairman and chief executive of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods company, his current net worth is $145.8 billion.

Key features: 101.5 metres in length / 6 decks / Top speed of 22 knots / 6-metre glass-bottom swimming pool / Outdoor cinema / Sundeck Jacuzzi / 8 guest cabins

Faith, owned by Michael Latifi

Built by: Similarly to Symphony above, also Feadship. With exteriors designed by Beaulieu-based RWD, and interiors by Chahan Design, it cost a reported $200 million to construct in 2017.

Owned by: Until recently, Canadian billionaire and part-owner of the Aston Martin Formula 1 Team , Lawrence Stroll. Recently sold to Michael Latifi, father of F1 star Nicholas , a fellow Canadian businessman with a net worth of just under $2 billion.

Key features: 97 metres in length / 9 guest cabins / Glass-bottom swimming pool — with bar / Bell 429 helicopter

Amevi, owned by Lakshmi Mittal

Built by: The Oceanco shipyard, also in The Netherlands. With exterior design by Nuvolari & Lenard and interior design by Alberto Pinto, it launched in 2007 (and cost around $125 million to construct).

Owned by: Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, chairman and CEO of Arcelor Mittal, the world’s largest steelmaking company. He owns 20% of Queen Park Rangers, and has a net worth of $18 billion.

Key features: 80 metres in length / 6 decks / Top speed of 18.5 knots / On-deck Jacuzzi / Helipad / Swimming Pool / Tender Garage / 8 guest cabins

Odessa II, owned by Len Blavatnik

Built by: Nobiskrug, the same German shipyard that built Sailing Yacht A . Both interior and exterior were created by Focus Yacht Design, and the yacht was launched in 2013 with a cost of $80 million.

Owned by: British businessman Sir Leonard Blavatnik. Founder of Access Industries — a multinational industrial group with current holdings in Warner Music Group, Spotify and the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat — he is worth $39.9 billion.

Key features: 74 metres in length / 6 guest cabins / Top speed of 18 knots / Intimate beach club / Baby grand piano / Private master cabhin terrace / Outdoor cinema

Nautilus, owned by Thierry Stern

Built by: Italian shipyard Perini Navi in 2014. With interiors by Rémi Tessier and exterior design by Philippe Briand, Nautilus was estimated to cost around $90 million to construct.

Owned by: Patek Philippe CEO Thierry Stern. Alongside his Gulstream G650 private jet, Nautilus — named for the famous sports watch — is his most costly mode of transport. His current net worth is $3 billion.

Key features: 73 metres in length / 7 guest cabins / Top speed of 16.5 knots / Dedicated wellness deck / 3.5 metre resistance pool / Underfloor heating / Jet Skis

Silver Angel, owned by Richard Caring

Built by: Luxury Italian boatbuilder Benetti. Launched in 2009, the yacht’s interior has been designed by Argent Design and her exterior styling is by Stefano Natucci.

Owned by: Richard Caring, British businessman and multi-millionaire (his wealth peaked at £1.05 billion, so he still makes the cut). Chairman of Caprice Holdings, he owns The Ivy restaurants.

Key features: 64.5 metres in length / Cruising speed of 15 knots / 7 guest cabins / Lalique decor / 5 decks / Oval Jacuzzi pool / Sun deck bar / Aft deck dining table

Lady Beatrice, owned by Frederick Barclay

Built by: Feadship and Royal Van Lent in 1993. Exteriors were created by De Voogt Naval Architects, with interiors by Bannenberg Designs. She cost the equivalent of £63 million to build.

Owned by: Sir David Barclay and his late brother Sir Frederick. The ‘Barclay Brothers’ had joint business pursuits including The Spectator , The Telegraph and delivery company Yodel. Current net worth: £7 billion.

Key features: 60 metres in length / 18 knots maximum speed / Monaco home port / Named for the brothers’ mother, Beatrice Cecelia Taylor / 8 guest cabins

Space, owned by Laurence Graff

Built by: Space was the first in Feadship’s F45 Vantage series , styled by Sinot Exclusive Yacht Design and launched in 2007. She cost a reported $25 million to construct.

Owned by: Laurence Graff, English jeweller and billionaire businessman. As the founder of Graff Diamonds, he has a global business presence and a current net worth of $6.26 billion.

Key features: 45 metres in length / Top speed of 16 knots / Al fresco dining area / Sun deck Jacuzzi / Breakfast bar / Swimming platform / Steam room

Want more yachts? Here’s the handcradfted, homegrown history of Princess…

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10 Superyachts Owned By The British Elite In 2017

Though many of us associate Superyachts with Russian and Middle Eastern owners, it is actually a reported fact that Britain own the second largest share of the world’s Superyachts… We’ve put together a list of just some of the Superyachts owned by Britians elite, along with their owners.

1. The Hinduja family and Param Jamuna IV

Prakash Hinduja is one of the richest people in the world. Together with his brothers, he owns the Hinduja Group and has a net worth of $16.2 billion! Th e Hinduja family business gained it’s elite status through banking, telecom, energy, media and technologies. Param Jamuna IV is the name of one of their rumoured Superyachts. She’s a 48.31m motor yacht and was custom built in 2013 by Rossinavi in Viareggio, Italy. Her beautiful interior and exterior design were forefronted by Team 4 Design.

2. Kirsty & Ernesto Bertarelliand Vava II

These two are probably the UK’s power couple in when it comes to Superyachts owned by Britians elite. They have a net worth of $16.9 billion. Former Miss UK and songwriter Kirsty Bertarelli and Biotech tycoon turned Capital giant Ernesto Bertarelli are the proud owners of the 97m Superyacht Vava II.  It’s rumored to cost £250,000 to just fill the tanks of this beast!

3. Philip Green and Lionheart

Now, Sir Philip Green is the owner of the £100 million, 90m Benetti Superyacht named ‘Lionheart’. Despite his other yachts being available for charter, Lionhart remains off of the market.

4. Leonard Blavatnik and Odessa II

Despite his Russian/American origin, Blatnavik now resides in London. And with an estimated net worth of $18.5 billion, he is one of the city’s wealthiest elite residents. He is also an active philanthropist through his Blavatnik Family Foundation. Leonard Baltnavik is the owner of the Nobiskrug 37.8m Odessa II.

5. James “Jim” Ratcliffe and Hampshire II

Ratcliffe has made his living in the chemical industry and now boasts a net worth of $5.5 billion. Not only does he own the 78.5m Hampshire II, he also previously owned a 56m Feadship motor yacht, by the same name.

6. Joe Lewis and Aviva

Joe has a tidy net worth of $5.3 billion and runs the Tavistock group. The group have their fingers in many pies, including UK football club, Tottenham Hotspur. Joe Lewis is a man after our own heart who chooses to reside in Lyford Cay, Bahamas. He is  the owner of  the Abeking & Rasmussen, 98m Superyacht Aviva.

7. Richard Branson and Necker Belle

You may well have heard of Necker Island, and you will certainly have heard of Britain’s 9th richest man, Richard Branson. But have you heard of his Superyacht, Necker Belle? Necker Belle is one of the few elite luxury sailing catamarans in the world and has been dubbed as the “floating version” of Necker Island.

8. James Dyson and Nahlin

We all know how James Dyson made his fortune. But, just in case you don’t, let us tell you that if you’ve ever used a Dyson vacuum, you have a lot to thank him for! His 91m Superyacht Nahlin is a real thing of class. This is one of the largest classic yachts in the world.

9. The Barclay Brothers and Lady Beatrice

Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay are twin brothers who are most famous for owning the Telegraph Media Group. They also own stakes in the London Ritz hotel, and the beautiful 60m custom motor yacht, Superyacht Lady Beatrice – Which was named after their mother.

10. Charles Dunstone and Shemara

Last, but most certainly not least, we have Sir Charles Dunston and his Superyacht Shemara. The businessman is worth $2.1 billion, and his yacht has a kind of legendary history. It was rescued from turning into a rotting mess by Dunstone about five years ago and brought back to its former glory. Talking about its glory days, this yacht was notorious for holding some of the most scandalous political parties of the early 20th century.

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