Body of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch recovered after superyacht tragedy as daughter, 18, remains missing

22 August 2024, 15:59 | Updated: 22 August 2024, 22:41

Tributes have been paid to British tech tycoon Mike Lynch after five bodies were recovered from the sunken superyacht, with his teenage daughter Hannah still unaccounted for.

Mr Lynch’s body was recovered by divers alongside four others after being found inside the sunken superyacht.

The remaining four bodies to be recovered have been formally identified as Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judith Bloomer, lawyer Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo.

It brings the total death toll from the disaster to six.

David Worsfold, a Liberal Democrat Councillor in Brentwood who knew Mike Lynch during his school days, told LBC the tech tycoon was a “great guy” who “wanted people to have the same opportunities he had.”

Super yacht community ‘can’t figure out’ why tycoon’s boat sank

“I’ve met many very, very wealthy people. Some of them think that they’ve left the rest of us behind and look down their noses at us,” he said.

“Mike never ever came near anything like that. He was still the same Mike Lynch that he must have been at school. He was the same Mike Lynch as when he started Autonomy all the way through.”

“Mike was a great guy. We went to the same school, albeit 10 years apart. But Mike was a great supporter of the Foundation that raised money for scholarships for young for boys and girls to go to the school because he was a scholarship boy himself.

David Tabizel, Mr Lynch’s co-founder at Autonomy, said the world had “lost a genius” after his death was confirmed. “His family have lost a giant of a man,” he added.

Mr Lynch was on the board of the British Library, and was a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

The academy paid tribute to its “mentor, donor and former council member” on Thursday.

In a statement, it said: “The trustee board, fellows and staff of the Royal Academy of Engineering are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Mike Lynch and send our profound condolences to his family.

“Mike became a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2008 and we have fond memories of the active role he played in the past as a mentor, donor and former council member. He was also one of the inaugural members on the enterprise committee.

“Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.”

Councillor who knew Mike Lynch pays tribute to him

The chief executive of the British Library, Sir Roly Keating, said: “Mike’s extraordinary understanding of technology, combined with his passion for the British Library’s mission to share knowledge, made him an invaluable member of our board.

“He was thoughtful, perceptive and supportive, and will be deeply missed by all of us who worked with him in his time here.”

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Francis Crick Institute described Mike Lynch as a “human being of great ability”.

Mr Lynch was a member of the Create The Change fundraising board, set up by Cancer Research UK and which helped fund the building of the Institute, a biomedical research centre.

Lord John Browne said: “Mike Lynch should be remembered as the person who catalysed a breed of deep tech entrepreneurs in the UK.

“His ideas and his personal vision were a powerful contribution to science and technology in both Britain and globally.

“I send my condolences to those close to him. We have lost a human being of great ability.”

Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Mike Lynch and all those who have been affected by this tragedy.

“Together with his wife, Angela, Mike was a valued donor to Cancer Research UK and a member of the board for our Create the Change campaign, which funded the building of the Francis Crick Institute.

“His support has helped to bring leading scientists together under one roof to tackle the biggest health challenges faced by humankind, including cancer.

“Our sincerest condolences go out to all the families affected.”

Read more: Sailing yachts like Mike Lynch’s are ‘unsinkable’, claims CEO of company that builds them

Read more: Super-yacht tragedy: Who is still missing and who has been rescued? What is known so far

He added: “He wanted people to have the same opportunities he had.”

Divers continued to search for the teenager off the coast of Sicily on Thursday, after recovering the fifth body from the vessel, which sunk at around 5am on Monday.

Four of the bodies discovered aboard the vessel had been brought back to shore come nightfall on Wednesday.

A fifth was retrieved early on Thursday.

Six people were marked as missing after the boat was hit by a water spout off the coast in Sicily just after 5am on Monday – with Hannah Lynch still missing.

22 people were onboard the yacht when it sank on Monday, with the chef Recaldo Thomas the first body to be found earlier in the week.

The ship is resting at a depth of around 50m (163ft) off the coast of Porticello near Palermo, where it had been anchored during the tornado.

It comes as the CEO of the company that built the ship claimed sailing yachts like Mike Lynch’s are “unsinkable”.

Giovanni Constantino, CEO of the Italian Sea Group, told Italian media the storm that caused the sinking was expected.

He added that there were no flaws with the design and construction of the Bayesian, insinuating human error was to blame in recent interviews with international media.

Search to resume for remaining passenger missing after yacht sank off Sicily

Captain James Cutfield, 51, is a “well-respected” sailor and has worked on boats since he was a teen, his brother said.

Hopes are fading for the missing teenager as authorities formally identified the five bodies recovered.

It comes after Mr Cutfield, who is currently in hospital, spoke for the first time earlier in the week, telling local media of the abrupt nature of a water spout that caused the ship to sink.

“We just didn’t see it coming,” he said.