Mike Lynch, recently acquitted in HP-Autonomy fraud case, missing after yacht capsizes off Sicily (update)

The original article is below.

Mike Lynch, an investor and high-profile founding father of British technology company Autonomy, was reported missing at sea after the yacht he was on capsized during a storm off the coast of Sicily early Monday morning.

TechCrunch confirmed with a source near the rescue that Lynch is certainly one of six people missing from the boat. Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, is certainly one of 15 rescued. One body has been found.

The news is a dramatic, tragic event for some of the vibrant and sometimes controversial figures in the UK tech industry

Lynch’s technology company, Autonomy, was acquired by HP in 2011 for $11 billion – a milestone for British technology – but it surely quickly went south, with HP suing Lynch and other company executives, claiming they were misled in the deal.

HP claimed the deal resulted in a $4 billion loss — money it demanded from Lynch and his former CFO. Lynch (pictured above, left) has long maintained that he acted in good faith and that he was made a scapegoat for the failed merger.

The legal drama spanned greater than a decade and included many other bitter chapters, including Lynch’s extradition to the US and loads of very bad publicity for Lynch himself. It also led to a second civil case in 2022 in the UK, which Lynch lost.

The U.S. criminal case, in which Lynch was charged with 15 counts of fraud and conspiracy, went to trial earlier this 12 months in San Francisco. Lynch was eventually acquitted in June.

“I am delighted with today’s verdict and grateful to the jury for the attention they paid to the facts over the past ten weeks. My sincerest thanks go to my legal team for working tirelessly on my behalf,” Lynch said on the time. “I look forward to returning to the UK and getting back to what I love most: my family and innovating in my field.”

In the meantime, Lynch has built up a status as an investor in the UK, primarily as a founder Summon CapitalThe VC firm was the most important investor in cybersecurity firm Darktrace, a tie-up that was not without its own controversy. He also invested in Sophia Genetics, Featurespace, and Luminance, amongst others. And that gave the impression to be the trail he intended to proceed down.

Our thoughts are along with his family, friends and colleagues. We will update this post as we learn more.