Rich-list tech tycoon among missing – who is Mike Lynch and why was he recently under house arrest?

Business

British tech billionaire Mike Lynch is missing off Sicily’s coast after a yacht sank, Sky News understands.

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

Sky News also understands the yacht is owned by the family of Dr Lynch.

It comes just weeks after Dr Lynch, 59, was 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.

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The odds were stacked against Mike Lynch – we can learn from his extradition and unsuccessful prosecution

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.

Who is Mike Lynch?

Ilford-born Dr Lynch had a firefighter father from County Cork and a mother who was a nurse from County Tipperary in Ireland.

In 2023, the Sunday Times rich list valued him and his wife Angela Bacares, 57, at £852m.

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