Mike Lynch, a British tech entrepreneur, is lacking after a luxurious yacht sunk off the coast of the Italian island of Sicily.

After co-founding British tech agency Autonomy in 1996, and backing a number of profitable tech corporations, the businessman was regarded by some because the UK’s reply to Microsoft founder Invoice Gates.

One particular person is useless and 6 are lacking after a 56m superyacht known as Bayesian, which has been linked to Mr Lynch’s household, sank following unhealthy climate.

His spouse, Angela Bacares, has been rescued.

The British tech tycoon made his riches by promoting his firm Autonomy to US computing large Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011 for $11bn (£8.6bn).

However an intense authorized battle following the high-profile acquisition loomed over Mr Lynch for over a decade.

He was acquitted within the US in June on a number of fraud costs, over which he had been dealing with 20 years in jail.

In an interview on BBC Radio 4 in August, Mr Lynch mentioned he believed he had solely been capable of show his innocence in US court docket as a consequence of his wealth.

The sinking of the yacht got here on the identical day that Mr Lynch’s co-defendant within the fraud case, Stephen Chamberlain, was confirmed by his lawyer as having died after being hit by a automobile in Cambridgeshire on Saturday.

Born on 16 June 1965, Mr Lynch is the son of a nurse and a fireman, and was raised close to Chelmsford in Essex.

He studied Pure Sciences on the College of Cambridge, the place he earned a PhD in mathematical computing, and later undertook a analysis fellowship.

In 1991, Mr Lynch helped set up Cambridge Neurodynamics – a agency which specialised in utilizing computer-based detection and recognition of fingerprints.

His tech agency Autonomy was created 5 years later, utilizing a statistical methodology often known as “Bayesian inference” on the core of its software program.

The corporate’s fast-paced progress and success all through the late Nineties and early 2000s noticed Mr Lynch earn a variety of awards and accolades.

In 2006 he was awarded an OBE in recognition of his service to UK enterprise.

He served on the board of the BBC as a non-executive director, and in 2011 was appointed to the federal government’s council for science and know-how – advising then prime minister David Cameron on the dangers and potentialities of AI growth.

After Autonomy’s sale to HP in 2011 – from which Mr Lynch is believed to have netted £500m – he went on to determine tech funding agency Invoke Capital.

The enterprise capital fund invested within the creation of British cyber safety firm Darktrace in 2013.

Mr Lynch, a shareholder within the agency, held a seat on its board till earlier this 12 months.

He and his spouse have two daughters, and reside on the Loudham Corridor property in Suffolk.

Autonomy turned profitable for its software program’s capability to extract helpful info from information reminiscent of cellphone calls, emails and video.

It will then use this information to do issues like counsel solutions to a call-centre operator or monitor TV channels for phrases or topics.

Previous to its buy by HP in 2011, Autonomy had headquarters in San Francisco and Cambridge.

However the price ticket got here below scrutiny following the sale and Autonomy’s worth was written down by billions only a 12 months later.

In 2018, US prosecutors introduced costs in opposition to Mr Lynch – accusing him of artificially inflating the corporate’s worth.

They mentioned he had hid the agency’s loss-making enterprise reselling {hardware}, and likewise accused him of intimidating or paying off individuals who raised considerations.

Mr Lynch informed BBC Radio 4 firstly of August that whereas satisfied of his innocence all through the prolonged trial, he felt he was solely capable of show his this in US court docket as a consequence of his wealth.

“You should not must have funds to guard your self as a British citizen,” he mentioned.

“The rationale I am sitting right here, let’s be sincere, isn’t solely as a result of I used to be harmless… however as a result of I had sufficient cash to not be swept away by a course of that is set as much as sweep you away.”

He added that following the prolonged authorized saga, he wished “to get again to what I like doing, which is innovating”.