British tech mogul Mike Lynch saw a dramatic fall in his wealth in the months before his superyacht met a tragic fate, capsizing off the northern coast of Sicily amidst a thunderstorm on Monday.
The tech magnate’s 59-year-old wife, Angela Baceras, managed to survive the ordeal, but their 18-year-old daughter Hannah is still missing, with one casualty unfortunately already recovered. Following the disaster, Ms Baceras reportedly remains in a state of profound shock while sheltered in an Italian hotel.
Rescue operations face daunting challenges due to the sunken Bayesian superyacht lying 50m deep, causing complications for rescue divers who must navigate an enigmatic “world of objects” and operate under challenging 12-minute shifts.
The ill-fated sailing venture was to be a jovial event, celebrating Mr Lynch being cleared in a high-profile fraud case. The Suffolk-based father of two had faced allegations of leading a deceitful scheme ahead of the colossal $11 billion (£8 billion) sale of his company Autonomy to industry behemoths Hewlett Packard, reports the Mirror.
Lynch emerged victorious from the legal battle as a federal court jury in San Francisco exonerated him from all 15 felony charges. Further relief came when US. District Judge Charles Breyer dismissed a count of securities fraud, which had been part of the U. S. Justice Department’s indictment against him since 2018.
In a conversation with The Times, Lynch likened his post-trial phase to embarking on a “second life”. Despite the couple’s net worth reportedly plummeting over the past year, with estimates suggesting a loss of around £352 million.
What is Mike Lynch’s net worth?
The sale of Autonomy to HP reportedly earned the former CEO a personal windfall of £616million. According to the Sunday Times Rich List in 2024, however, the couple were worth £500m – ranking them at 286th in the top 350 richest people.
Just a year prior, the couple were believed to have been worth approximately £852m, placing them at 199th on the annual rich list.
The Times reported that the couple amassed their wealth through software, specifically Autonomy and Darktrace. The latter, a cybersecurity firm, was established in Cambridge in 2013, following the sale of Autonomy.
Mr Lynch made the Forbes billionaire list in both 2014 and 2015, with the American magazine estimating his net worth to be around $1 billion. However, he dropped off the list in 2016.
Bailed for $100 million
When Mr Lynch was extradited to the US in 2023 as part of the legal case with HP, he was bailed for around £77 million. Instead of spending time in custody ahead of the trial, he was placed under house arrest.
Facing up to twenty years in prison if convicted, he told the BBC that one of the reasons he remained free was due to his wealth. He informed the PM programme on BBC Radio 4 that he was only able to prove it in a US court because he could afford the hefty legal fees involved.
“You shouldn’t need to have funds to protect yourself as a British citizen,” he declared. “The reason I’m sitting here, let’s be honest, is not only because I was innocent… but because I had enough money not to be swept away by a process that’s set up to sweep you away.”
In the wake of the Italian catastrophe, six individuals are still unaccounted for. Following the sinking of the Bayesian, those who remain missing include:
- Mike Lynch
- Hannah Lynch
- Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer
- Mr Bloomer’s wife Anne
- Mr Lynch’s lawyer Christopher Morvillo
- Mr Morvillo’s wife Nada