The British Mike Lynch, a well-known tech entrepreneur, is among those missing after the sinking of a luxury super-yacht on the night of Sunday to Monday near Palermo (Sicily), sources close to the rescue operations reported. Mike Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, has been rescued, the same source specified. The rescue teams have reported one dead, six missing, and 15 rescued in their latest update.
Twelve passengers and ten crew members were aboard the yacht, mostly of British nationality, according to Italian media. In the middle of the night, strong winds and a torrential downpour swept along the coast, causing material damage in beach establishments: several media outlets reported that the area was hit by a waterspout, a rotating column of air and water.
Mike Lynch, 59 years old, is one of the most famous British entrepreneurs in tech. Contacted by AFP, a spokesperson for Mike Lynch declined to comment. In recent years, the businessman has primarily made headlines for a trial in a fraud case related to the sale of Autonomy software to the American group HP for $11 billion in 2011.
HP accused Autonomy of having manipulated its accounts, notably accusing Mike Lynch of artificially inflating reported revenues, revenue growth, and company margins. In 2023, Mr. Lynch was extradited from the UK to the United States to stand trial in this case, but he was acquitted in June following a trial in San Francisco (California).
Ongoing Searches
“Our priority is to cooperate with the ongoing search efforts and to provide all necessary support to the surviving passengers and crew members,” assured the British owner of the yacht, Camper & Nicholsons, in a statement. Charlotte, a 35-year-old British passenger who was aboard with her husband, colleagues from a London company, and a few relatives, recounted that she lost her one-year-old daughter “for two seconds” in the water before recovering her.
“I immediately held her in my arms amidst the fury of the waves. Many were screaming. Fortunately, the lifeboat was inflated, and 11 of us managed to board,” she told the Ansa agency. The woman and her baby have been hospitalized but are out of danger.
Among the survivors, mostly British, there were also two Franco-British individuals, one Sri Lankan, one New Zealander, and one Irish national, reported media outlets. On Monday morning, the sun was back, allowing rescuers to conduct searches on a calm sea involving a helicopter, divers, and Coast Guard vessels around the wreck of the boat, located at a depth of 50 meters.