Mike Lynch and other missing yacht passengers feared dead
UK tech mogul Mike Lynch and five other missing passengers are feared dead after a superyacht capsized off Sicily early on Monday.
Lynch, the former boss of software firm Autonomy, was one of 22 people on board the luxury yacht named Bayesian when it capsized at around 5am on Monday in a tornado off the coast of Palermo, the capital of the Italian island.
Others missing include Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International Bank chair Jonathan Bloomer and Chris Morvillo, a partner at magic circle law firm Clifford Chance.
Divers are attempting to find them for a second day on Tuesday. The Bayesian is around 50m underwater, according to the Italian coastguard.
Authorities confirmed on Monday that 15 people were rescued after the incident. Among them was Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares.
The body of a man, later confirmed to be chef Recaldo Thomas, was found on Monday morning.
The trip was reportedly organised to celebrate 59-year-old Lynch’s recent acquittal in a US criminal fraud case over the sale of Autonomy to Hewlett Packard (HP).
Italy’s fire brigade Vigili del Fuoco said on X on Tuesday morning that early inspections of the wreck were “unsuccessful” due to limited access to the bridge and furniture obstructing passages.
“The entrance to the yacht is complex, planning is underway to open easier accesses and inspect the interior [translated from Italian],” it added.
A spokesperson for the coastguard told the PA news agency at around 1.30pm UK time that the missing six may still be inside the sunken yacht.
Vincenzo Zagarola said this was the working theory of officials on Sicily because it is believed the boat sank quickly and search and rescue efforts by sea and air have so far delivered no results.
A team of four inspectors from the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch have arrived in Italy to make a preliminary assessment into the sinking of the British-registered vessel.
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In May last year, Bloomer added a position as chair of UK-based insurer Hiscox to his portfolio.
Bloomer was a partner at Arthur Anderson before joining the Prudential, initially as CFO in 1995 before leading the firm for five years as CEO from 2000.
A spokesperson for Morgan Stanley said: “We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragedy. Our thoughts are with all those affected, in particular the Bloomer family, as we all wait for further news from this terrible situation.”
Morvillo is a partner in the law firm’s New York office, and focused on white-collar government investigations. He served as co-counsel when defending Lynch successfully at a 12-week criminal trial in US Federal Court earlier this year. From 1999 to 2005, he also served as an assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
A spokesperson for Clifford Chance said: “We are in shock and deeply saddened by this tragic incident.”
“Our thoughts are with our partner, Christopher Morvillo, and his wife Neda who are among the missing. Our utmost priority is providing support to the family as well as our colleague Ayla Ronald, who together with her partner, thankfully survived the incident. Our thoughts extend to the other passengers and crew and all those affected.”
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One of the survivors, British tourist Charlotte Emsley, told Italian newspaper la Repubblica she held her one-year-old daughter, Sofia, to stop her from drowning.
She said: “I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning.
“It was all dark. In the water I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others.”
Lynch, who co-founded software giant Autonomy in 1996, was made an OBE for services to enterprise in 2006.
In June, he was cleared in the US of conducting a massive fraud relating to an $11bn (£8.64bn) sale to HP.
However, HP did win a six-year civil fraud suit against Lynch back in 2022 after the English High Court ruled that he defrauded the firm by manipulating Autonomy’s accounts to inflate its valuation ahead of the takeover.
It was reported that Autonomy’s former vice president of finance Stephen Chamberlain, and a co-defendant on the US case, passed away on Saturday.
His lawyer Gary Lincenberg issued a statement: “Our dear client and friend Steve Chamberlain was fatally struck by a car on Saturday while out running.”
“He was a courageous man with unparalleled integrity. We deeply miss him. Steve fought successfully to clear his good name at trial earlier this year, and his good name now lives on through his wonderful family.”
Chamberlain was also the former chief operating officer of UK-listed cybersecurity company Darktrace, from April 2016 to June 2023. He was on a career transition since leaving Darktrace.
A spokesperson for Darktrace said: “We are incredibly saddened to hear of the tragic death of Steve Chamberlain, Darktrace’s former chief operating officer and a substantial contributor to the team in its early years.”
“Steve was much loved by his colleagues and leaves many friends at Darktrace. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife, Karen, and the rest of his family who are very much in our thoughts at this challenging time.”