Missing billionaire Mike Lynch cleared of fraud just months before superyacht sinking in Italy

A British tech mogul, Mike Lynch, is missing after a superyacht capsized off the coast of Italy, triggering a frantic search. Authorities have already recovered one body from the water.

Lynch is believed to be among the 22 individuals who were thrown overboard when a violent storm overturned the yacht, named Bayesian, near Sicily on Monday morning.

By early morning, 15 of the 22 had been rescued, but Lynch was still unaccounted for. His wife, Angela Bacares, was confirmed to be among those saved.

Who is Mike Lynch?

Lynch has business interests in both the UK and the US and is a well-known figure in the former. He's also gaining recognition in the latter due to recent legal developments in California and other parts of the US, reports the Mirror US .

Lynch made his fortune in IT. He co-founded Autonomy, a tech company, in 1996 and grew it into one of the UK's leading firms before it was bought by tech behemoth Hewlett-Packard.

When he sold the company in 2011, Autonomy was valued at $11 billion, and he reportedly pocketed around $647,400 from the sale - a staggering sum in today's money.

His exploits in the tech sector have earned him the nickname "Britain's Bill Gates" and solidified his position among the UK's - and the world's - financial elite. However, they've also landed him in legal trouble in both the UK and the US.

His sale of Autonomy was embroiled in fraud allegations, and he faced civil litigation in the U. K. before being extradited to the U. S. in March this year to face additional charges.

The trial, held in San Francisco , resulted in him being cleared of 15 charges related to conspiracy and wire fraud after accusations of inflating Autonomy's value.