Divers of the Vigili del Fuoco, the Italian Corps. of Firefighters leave Porticello harbor near Palermo, to resume research for a last missing person on August 23, 2024, four days after the British-flagged luxury yacht Bayesian sank.
Alberto Pizzoli | Afp | Getty Images
Divers on Friday retrieved Hannah Lynch, the daughter of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, from the wreckage of a yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC.
Eighteen-year-old Hannah Lynch was the last person still unaccounted for, out of six people who went missing after the superyacht Bayesian sank suddenly during a violent storm in the early hours of Monday morning.
Six bodies have now been retrieved from the yacht’s wreckage, with the following people confirmed dead: Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah; Morgan Stanley International Chair Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, charity trustee Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, jewelery designer Neda Morvillo.
Recaldo Thomas, a Canadian-Antiguan national who was working as a chef onboard, was confirmed dead earlier this week.
It took divers days to locate the missing people due to difficulties accessing the inside of the wreck, which is lying at a depth of around 50 meters (164 feet), has narrow access points and is surrounded by objects.
Another 15 people who were on the boat when it sank were rescued Monday, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, and a 1-year-old baby and her parents.
Hannah’s sister, Esme Lynch, described Hannah as her “little angel.”
“She was endlessly caring, passionately mad, unintentionally hilarious and the most amazing, supportive and joyful sister and best friend to me. And on top of all this, she had even more love to give endlessly to all her friends and passion to give to her incredible studies and goals,” said Esme Lynch.
Mike Lynch was the founder of enterprise software firm Autonomy. He became the target of a protracted legal battle with Hewlett Packard after the firm accused Lynch of inflating Autonomy’s value in an $11.7 billion sale. HP took an $8.8 billion write-down on the value of the company within a year of buying it.
Lynch was acquitted in June of fraud charges in a surprise victory in U.S. court following a trial that lasted for three months.
The yacht trip is believed to have been a celebration of his acquittal. Clifford Chance’s Morvillo represented Lynch in the trial, while Morgan Stanley’s Bloomer testified for the defense.
Lynch was also founder of Invoke Capital, a venture capital firm endorsing European tech startups. He became an important voice supporting the U.K. technology industry, backing key names like cybersecurity firm Darktrace and legal tech firm Luminance.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct that the ship sank off the coast of northern Sicily. A previous version misstated the location.
