Photo: Bloomberg/Getty ImagesFriends and colleagues of Mike Lynch have paid tribute to him, with the tech tycoon’s death on his luxury yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily described as an “irreplaceable loss”.
The 59-year-old British businessman was among those killed when the Bayesian cruise ship sank in stormy weather early on Monday morning.
The bodies of four others have been found, and a sixth person – believed to be Mr Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah – remains missing.
Mr Lynch is a prominent figure in the British technology industry, where he has backed successful companies that have earned him the nickname Britain’s Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft.
However, he was later embroiled in a lengthy legal dispute that led to his controversial extradition to the United States, before being was acquitted earlier this summer..
Former Sun editor David Yelland said Mr Lynch was “an irreplaceable loss not just to those who loved him but to the whole country”.
“He was the UK’s greatest technology entrepreneur in recent decades, a family man, a long-time customer of my business and a friend,” he said.
“To think that Mike Lynch lost his life just as he was beginning to rebuild his life is heartbreaking for all who knew him.”
Mr Lynch survived with his wife Angela Bacares, who was rescued after the yacht sank. They live at Loudham Hall estate in Suffolk.
Brent Hoberman, co-founder of Lastminute.com, described his death as a “tragedy”, saying Mr Lynch could have contributed much more to the UK tech industry.
“He’s still on his journey and has been distracted for a decade by this litigation,” he told the BBC.
“I think there is still a lot of untapped potential.”
IT analyst Richard Holway said in a LinkedIn post that Mr Lynch – a friend of more than 25 years – is “a uniquely British tech talent”.
“God only knows what he can achieve next,” he added.
Ups and downs in business
Mr Lynch co-founded technology company Autonomy in 1996, which expanded rapidly and was sold to Hewlett Packard for $11bn (£8.6bn) in 2011, from which he is said to have made £500m.
He then founded tech firm Invoke Capital, which helped create prominent British cybersecurity firm Darktrace in 2013. Lynch had a seat on the company’s board until earlier this year.
But questions about the sale of Autonomy have led to a protracted legal battle.
In 2022, Mr Lynch lost a civil fraud lawsuit against HP at the High Court in London.
One day later, he was extradited come to the United States as part of a criminal proceeding and could face up to two decades in prison.
He was acquitted in June this year after a jury found him not guilty.
He told BBC Radio 4 that although he believed he was innocent, he could only prove it in a US court. because he is rich enough had to pay huge legal fees involved.
Mr Lynch is believed to have gone on a cruise with his family to celebrate his freedom.
Its Bayesian name is understood to derive from the theory on which his PhD thesis – and the software that powers Autonomy – was based.
Witnesses said the ship’s aluminum mast broke in two during the storm, causing the ship to lose balance and sink.
Dick Smith, a neighbour of Mr Lynch, told the BBC he was “deeply shocked by the news”.
“He was very approachable, easy to talk to and had a good sense of humor,” he said.
“You might think that with such a large amount of money it would be difficult to talk to him, but he is actually very easy to talk to.”
Welding in carpet
Born on June 16, 1965, Mr Lynch is the son of a nurse and a firefighter, and grew up near Chelmsford in Essex.
His first computer was a BBC Micro, and he wrote fondly about how it shaped his passion for programming in a 2011 BBC article. 30th Anniversary of the Device.
While in school, his “first foray into commercializing technology” was when he designed a digital sampler that could sample music, then sold those designs, according to a 2017 interview.
He continued this hobby while studying Natural Sciences at Cambridge University – where he said he annoyed his university by “soiled the carpet” in his room.
While at Cambridge, he obtained a PhD in mathematical computing and then received a research fellowship.
In 1991, Mr. Lynch helped found Cambridge Neurodynamics, a company that specialized in computer-based fingerprint detection and recognition technology.
His technology company Autonomy was founded five years later, using a statistical method called “Bayesian inference” as the core of its software.
The company’s rapid growth and success throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s earned Mr. Lynch a number of awards and accolades.
In 2006, he was awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of his contributions to UK business.
He served as a non-executive director on the BBC board, and in 2011 was appointed to the government’s science and technology council – advising then-Prime Minister David Cameron on the risks and possibilities of AI development.
Autonomy, and later Aurasma Software, were the previous shirt sponsors of Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur from 2010 to 2013.
After Autonomy was sold to HP in 2011 – from which Mr Lynch is said to have made £500m – he went on to set up technology investment firm Invoke Capital.
The venture capital fund invested in the founding of British cybersecurity company Darktrace in 2013.
Mr. Lynch, a shareholder in the company, held a seat on the board until earlier this year.
“This is the start of a new life for Mike,” former cabinet minister Lord Deben told Times Radio.
“He has made a huge contribution to Britain, his companies have put Britain at the forefront and he will continue to do so,” said Sir Deben, former Conservative MP John Gummer.
