Who is Mike Lynch, the British technology entrepreneur who has gone missing following the sinking of a superyacht?

Mike Lynch, aged 59, is the founder of the enterprise software company Autonomy. In June, he was cleared of fraud charges after a trial where he was accused of inflating Autonomy’s value during its $11.7 billion sale to Hewlett Packard. This trial was significant as it involved allegations from HP that Lynch had manipulated the company’s worth before the 2011 sale.

Just two months after his acquittal, Lynch was reported missing following the sinking of a superyacht named Bayesian off the coast of Sicily. The yacht capsized around 4 a.m. near Porticello, a small fishing village in Palermo, Italy, due to an unexpected storm. Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, was among the 15 people rescued, but at least one person died, and six others, including Lynch’s daughter Hannah, remain missing. The search and rescue efforts, which resumed on Tuesday, also involve other missing individuals such as Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, as well as lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda.

In a separate incident, Stephen Chamberlain, a former vice president of finance at Autonomy and a co-defendant in Lynch’s trial, was fatally struck by a car while jogging in Cambridgeshire, England.

Lynch, who also runs the venture capital firm Invoke Capital, faced a lengthy legal battle with HP, which accused him of inflating Autonomy’s value. HP had to write down $8.8 billion of Autonomy’s value within a year of the acquisition. Lynch was extradited to the U.S. last year to face charges including wire fraud and conspiracy, but he was acquitted two months ago after a three-month trial. During the trial, Lynch denied any wrongdoing, attributing financial decisions to Autonomy’s then-CFO, Sushovan Hussain, who was convicted in 2018 on related charges and served a five-year sentence.

Lynch, often referred to as “Britain’s Bill Gates,” was born in Ilford and grew up in Chelmsford. He studied natural sciences at the University of Cambridge and later earned a Ph.D. in signal processing and communications. He founded several companies, including Lynett Systems Ltd. and Cambridge Neurodynamics, before co-founding Autonomy in 1996. Lynch has been influential in the U.K. tech industry, serving on the BBC board and advising the British government.

Through Invoke Capital, Lynch has supported startups like Darktrace and Luminance. Darktrace, which faced similar revenue inflation allegations, was recently acquired by Thoma Bravo for $5.32 billion. Lynch was listed as a billionaire by Forbes in 2014 and 2015 but dropped off the list in 2016 due to legal expenses.

Outside of his professional life, Lynch enjoys farming rare breeds of cattle and pigs at his Suffolk home. He recently returned to his farm to recover from his legal battles and expressed relief at his acquittal, contemplating his future after narrowly avoiding a potential prison sentence.