One of the six people who remain missing after the sinking of a luxury yacht in Sicily is Mike Lynch, one of the most influential figures in the field of technology in the United Kingdom and known as the “British Bill Gates.” His 18-year-old daughter, Hannah Lynch, is also missing. Meanwhile, his wife, Angela Bacares, has been rescued alive, along with fourteen other people, including a one-year-old baby. Others who were shipwrecked on board the yacht Bayesian are the president of the bank Morgan Stanley International, Jonathan Bloomer, and the lawyer Chris Morvillo, from the law firm Clifford Chance, reported this Tuesday the BBC. The search and rescue efforts resumed this morning.
Born in 1965 in Essex, Lynch graduated from King’s College, Cambridge with a degree in Natural Sciences, and later completed a PhD in electrical engineering. Throughout his career, he has been known to be one of the most influential figures in the field of technology in the United Kingdom.
His career at the head of the Autonomy company and his desire to compete with the big players in the digital world led to him being awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2006 and being appointed a member of the Science and Technology Council, in the government led by then Prime Minister David Cameron. He was also a member of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society.
A giant in the sector
In 1996, he co-founded Autonomy Corporation, a data analytics software company that quickly became a giant in its sector, becoming one of the most successful technology companies in the country.
Autonomy’s success culminated in 2011, when Hewlett-Packard (HP) acquired the company for $11 billion. Lynch thus rose to billionaire status and was dubbed “the British Bill Gates.” According to British media, Lynch earned approximately $800 million in the deal, but the sale would prove problematic, leaving him facing civil lawsuits and criminal charges.
An image of Mike Lynch, a technology magnate who has disappeared in Sicily after his boat sank
Henry Nicholls / Reuters
The legal battle
Shortly after the acquisition, HP accused Lynch of inflating the company’s values, leading to a protracted legal battle that ended this year when he was found not guilty of all charges in June.
Prosecutors accused him of inflating the company’s value by using backdated agreements to mislead about the company’s sales, said he had concealed the company’s loss-making business by reselling hardware, and also accused him of intimidating or paying off people who raised concerns.
In an interview with the BBC earlier this month, Lynch said: “The reason I’m sitting here, let’s be honest, is not just because I was innocent, but because I had enough money not to be dragged through a process that is set up to drag you through.”
In June this year, he was acquitted of all charges in a 15-count US fraud trial he faced over Hewlett-Packard’s $11.1 billion purchase of Autonomy in 2011.
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