Tech moguls pay tribute to ‘visionary’ Mike Lynch

Tech entrepreneurs last night paid tribute to Mike Lynch, who died after his superyacht sank off Italy.

Friends and industry colleagues have mourned the loss of an “inspirational titan” who was known as the “British Bill Gates” after divers confirmed his body was found in the wreck of the Bayesian.

The body of Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah was also found on the boat off the coast of Sicily, as were two other people who had not been identified by last night.

Two months ago, Lynch, 59, won a 13-year legal battle to clear his name after being accused of fraud.

Brent Hoberman, founder of online travel shop Lastminute.com, last night paid tribute to his friend of 28 years.

He said: “He was an iconic figure for so many decades for UK business.”

“He was an inspiring titan of technology and a pioneer for many who followed him,” Hoberman said.

“He was a true patriot” who supported UK tech entrepreneurs, he added.

Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates, said Lynch would be remembered as a “true visionary”. And Rob Moffat, a partner at venture capital firm Balderton Capital, said it was “a tragic day”.

“He has inspired a lot of tech entrepreneurs,” Moffat said.

Lynch founded software company Autonomy in 1996 before selling it to US computing giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) for £9bn in 2011.

But the deal fell apart when HP accused Lynch of falsely inflating Autonomy’s revenue before the sale.

That set off a lengthy legal saga that led to Lynch being extradited to the United States in 2022 to face criminal charges that could see him spend two decades in prison if convicted.

But a jury acquitted him of fraud charges in June and after his acquittal, he said he was ready to “get back to doing what I love to do, which is innovate.”

The yacht trip had been planned as a celebration after the case, but in the early hours of Monday, a tornado caused the boat to sink within minutes.

Eileen Burbidge, founder of Passion Capital, said it was a “shocking tragedy and the same for Stephen Chamberlain”, Lynch’s co-defendant in the US trial, who died after being hit by a car at the weekend.

Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares was rescued but guests yet to be formally identified last night included Morgan Stanley boss Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy and American couple Chris and Neda Morvillo.