A little over a month ago, the 184-foot yacht belonging to tech millionaire Mike Lynch abruptly sank off the coast of Sicily. The vessel had been anchored for a night of festivities when an unexpected “freak storm” struck the waters nearby. Within 16 minutes, the yacht submerged. Among those who drowned were Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter, his lawyer, and several others.
The incident quickly attracted suspicion due to the unusual timing of the yacht’s sinking. Lynch and his companions were aboard the vessel to celebrate a recent legal victory. The tech executive had recently been found not guilty in a decade-long fraud case involving a multi-billion dollar deal to sell his software company to Hewlett-Packard in 2011. After years of battling accusations of fraud related to the deal, a U.S. court had acquitted Lynch of all related charges only two months before the tragic event.
In a development that has fueled further speculation, CNN reports that the yacht, named the Bayesian, might contain watertight safes holding “super-encrypted hard drives.” Lynch, reportedly distrustful of cloud services, would carry encrypted drives during his sailing trips. These drives may contain highly sensitive data tied to multiple Western intelligence services, according to four sources familiar with the local police investigation.
CNN highlights Lynch’s extensive government connections, noting his association with British, American, and other intelligence services through his various companies. Lynch, who had a background in the cybersecurity industry, often collaborated with government agencies and served as an advisor to several British prime ministers, including David Cameron and Theresa May.
Authorities are now focused on securing and protecting the sunken hard drives. CNN reports that police are intensifying security and underwater surveillance around the submerged yacht, fearing that it could be targeted by foreign governments such as Russia and China.
Adding to the unusual circumstances surrounding this case, Stephen Chamberlain, Lynch’s business partner and co-defendant in the recently concluded legal proceedings, died on the same day as the yacht’s sinking. Chamberlain was struck by a car while jogging on August 17th and succumbed to his injuries two days later. The driver, a 49-year-old woman, remained at the scene after the accident.
Lynch’s software company, Autonomy, was acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011. At the time of the acquisition, Lynch was serving as Autonomy’s CEO. Shortly after the deal, Lynch left the company, and its operations quickly deteriorated. Lynch faced accusations of inflating Autonomy’s value prior to the sale, which he denied, arguing that HP mishandled the company post-acquisition. After an extensive legal battle, an American court ultimately sided with Lynch.
Lynch’s attorney, Chris Morvillo, who played a key role in securing the legal victory against HP, also perished when the Bayesian sank. Morvillo and his wife were celebrating the court win with Lynch at the time of the tragedy.