The British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch has been confirmed dead by search and rescue authorities after a yacht sank off the coast of Sicily during a violent storm, according to two news agencies.
Lynch, 59, the founder of Autonomy Corporation, was among six people missing after the British-flagged 56-metre sailing boat Bayesian capsized at about 5am local time off the coast of Palermo when the area was hit by a tornado.
Both Reuters and AFP news agencies reported that Lynch’s body had been recovered from the wreck, citing sources close to the rescue operation.
His wife, Angela Bacares, was rescued, while his 18-year-old daughter remains unaccounted for.
The bodies of four people were recovered from the sunken wreck of the yacht on Wednesday. The body of the yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, was located shortly after the vessel sank.
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 (£7bn).
He was acquitted by a jury in San Francisco in June after he had spent more than a year living in effect under house arrest.
Lord Browne, the chairman of the Francis Crick Institute, was among the first to pay tribute to Lynch.
In a post on X, he wrote: “Mike Lynch should be remembered as the person who catalysed a breed of deep tech entrepreneurs in the UK.
“His ideas and his personal vision were a powerful contribution to science and technology in both Britain and globally.
“I send my condolences to those close to him. We have lost a human being of great ability.”
Lynch was a member of the Create the Change fundraising board, set up by Cancer Research UK and which helped fund the building of the institute.
More details soon …
