Tech Entrepreneur Among Six Missing After Superyacht Sinks Off Sicily

Six people, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, are missing and one person is confirmed dead after a luxury sailboat sank off the coast of Palermo, Sicily, on Monday.

The Bayesian, an 184-foot British-registered superyacht, sank before sunrise, triggering a coastguard rescue operation.

• 15 people were rescued and eight were hospitalized in stable condition, including a 1-year-old.
• The yacht capsized due to heavy rainfall and strong storms in the area.
• Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the incident, which comes just months after Lynch's extradition to the US on fraud charges.
• Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, was among those rescued, according to the BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxl5kpvrg9o

About Mike Lynch:

• Co-founder of Autonomy Corporation (now HP Autonomy) and Invoke Capital.
• Became a co-founder of Darktrace through Invoke Capital.
• Charged with civil and criminal fraud in US and UK following the sale of Autonomy to HP in 2011 for $11 billion.
• Indicted in the US in 2018, along with Autonomy's former CFO, who was found guilty and sentenced to 5 years in prison.
• Extradited to the US in 2023 and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
• Found not guilty on all charges in June 2024.
• In August 2024, he told the BBC he felt his wealth allowed him to prove his innocence: "You shouldn't need to have funds to protect yourself as a British citizen." https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-60170510

Stephen Chamberlain, Lynch's co-defendant, was seriously injured in a road accident on Saturday and is on life support, according to Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/mike-lynchs-co-defendant-us-trial-critically-injured-uk-road-accident-source-2024-08-19/