British billionaire Mike Lynch is one of six missing passengers from the Bayesian, Lynch’s 184-foot superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily, Italy, on Monday, multiple media reports.
Lynch is known in the British media as the ‘British Bill Gates’ because of his influence in the technology world and his wealth.
The ship sank during a violent storm after a gust of wind that the captain of the nearby ship, Karsten Borner, described as a “strong hurricane gust”, according to CNBC.
After gaining control of his own ship and firing a flare for help, Borner said he approached the ship and collected 15 survivors. Four were wounded, three of whom were “seriously injured,” Borner said.
He added that he had taken care to avoid his boat coming into contact with the yacht during the storm, but that the yacht had disappeared once the gust passed.
Italian officials are still searching for the missing people. One crew member, a chef, is 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 missing are Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at Clifford Chance, Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and Bloomer’s wife, Judy, Reuters reported.
According to authorities, the missing persons include Americans, Canadians and Britons. NBC News.
Lynch co-defendant dies in separate incident
In June, Lynch was acquitted of fraud charges stemming from claims he made about his technology company, Autonomy, as he was 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 guard reported.
HP claimed the men wanted to inflate the value of the company before selling it.
The Guardian reported that Chamberlain died last weekend while jogging in the British village of Stretham, underscoring the eerie coincidence that both men were involved in an accident at almost the same time.
After leaving Autonomy, Chamberlain worked for Darktrace, a cybersecurity company, and also volunteered as finance director for Cambridge United, a team in the third tier of professional football in the English Football League, according to The Guardian.
“He was a courageous man with unmatched integrity, and we miss him dearly,” Gary Lincenberg, Chamberlain’s attorney, said of his client. “He fought successfully to clear his good name, which lives on through his wonderful family.”
