Mike Lynch: Tributes paid to ‘UK’s greatest tech entrepreneur’

Friends and colleagues of Mike Lynch have paid tribute to “the UK’s greatest tech entrepreneur” after he was confirmed to have died when a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily.

The British businessman, 59, was among those killed when the Bayesian vessel foundered in stormy weather early on Monday near Porticello.

The bodies of five others have been recovered, and a seventh person – believed to be Mr Lynch’s daughter Hannah, 18, is still missing.

Mr Lynch was a prominent figure in the UK tech industry, where his backing of successful companies led to him being dubbed the British equivalent of Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

However, he later became embroiled in a long-running legal dispute which resulted in him being controversially extradited to the US, before being acquitted earlier this summer.

Andrew Kanter, a close friend and colleague of Mr Lynch, said he was “the most brilliant mind and caring person I have ever known.”

“Over nearly a quarter century I had the privilege of working beside someone unrivalled in their understanding of technology and business,” he said.

Former Sun newspaper editor David Yelland said Mr Lynch was “an irreplaceable loss not only to those that loved him but also to the country”.

“He is the UK’s greatest tech entrepreneur of recent decades, a family man, a long-time client of my business and a friend,” he said.

“To think Mike Lynch lost his life just as he began to rebuild it is devastating for all those that know him.”

• Four bodies found inside wreck of luxury yacht that sank off Sicily

Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda Morvillo and Recaldo Thomas, the yacht’s chef, also died when the vessel sank.

In a statement confirming their parents’ deaths, the Bloomer family described the couple as “incredible people and an inspiration to many”.

Mr Lynch is survived by his wife Angela Bacares, who was rescued, along with 14 others, after the yacht sank. The couple lived at the Loudham Hall estate in Suffolk.

Brent Hoberman, co-founder of Lastminute.com, described the deaths as “tragic”, saying Mr Lynch had much more to give to the UK tech scene.

“He was still on his journey, and he’d been sidetracked for a decade with this court case,” he told the BBC.

“I think there was a lot of unfulfilled potential.”

IT analyst Richard Holway said in a post on LinkedIn that Mr Lynch – a friend of more than 25 years – was “a unique British tech talent”.

“Goodness knows what he could have achieved next,” he added.