Weeks Before Mike Lynch Died in Yacht Sinking, He Spoke About Making the Most of 'Second Life'

Mar. 15, 2025

Mike Lynch, former chief executive officer of Autonomy Corp., in London, U.K., on Tuesday, July 8, 2014.Photo:Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty

Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty

British tech entrepreneurMike Lynchspoke about having a new lease on life and how he was looking forward to spending time with his family in the weeks before his death, according to a journalist who spoke with Lynch about his life after being acquitted of fraud.

On Thursday, Aug. 22, an Italian government official saidLynch’s body had been retrievedfrom the luxury yachtthatsank off the coast of Sicilydays earlier, while his family and friends were celebrating his legal victory.

PEOPLE previously reported thatfive bodies had been foundin the days after theBayesianwent into the water.

Although the Italian coast guard has not formally identified the bodies that have been recovered, an official with the Italian interior ministry,confirmed to Reutersthat Lynch was one of the victim’s found while hisdaughter Hannah remained missing.

The father-daughter pair had been among six passengers missing in the aftermath of the sinking, while Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, was one of 15 people who were rescued.

The remaining victims reported as missing wereChristopher Morvillo, a New York City attorney, his wife, jewelry designer Neda Morvillo; as well as Chairman of Morgan Stanley InternationalJonathan Bloomer, and his wife, Judy.

The body of victim, identified as chefRecaldo Thomas, was recovered shortly after the yacht went down.

In the weeks before the ill-fated trip, Lynch’s life changed after beingacquittedof multiple fraud and conspiracy charges following a lengthy legal battle.

Speaking withThe Sunday Timesin an interview that was published on July 27, the father of two said that when the verdict came in, it felt like he had been given a “second life.”

But, he added, “The question is, what do you want to do with it?”

Mike Lynch.Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty

Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty

In 2018, federal prosecutors in California indicted Lynch on several counts of securities fraud and conspiracy, per theAssociated Pressand theBBC. The indictment related to the 2011 sale of Autonomy, a business software company he founded, for $11 billion to Hewlett Packard, per the AP.

At the time, the sale made him one of the richest people in the U.K., according toCBS News.

Lynch, who faced spending up to 25 years in U.S. prison, spent years fighting extradition, according to the BBC. Last May, he was finally extradited from Britain and then spent 13 months under house arrest while waiting for the trial to begin, perThe Sunday Times.

“If this had gone the wrong way, it would have been the end of life as I have known it in any sense,” Lynchtold the outlet, noting at another point that he also had “various medical things that would have made it difficult to survive.”

The trial began in 2024 and in June, he was acquitted on all 15 counts.

As he wondered what he would do with his freedom, he even told the newspaper he was interested in creating a British equivalent to the American nonprofit theInnocence Project.

Mike Lynch, former chief executive officer of Autonomy Corp., speaks at the Confederation of British Industry conference in London, U.K., on Tuesday, June 10, 2003.Graham Barclay/Bloomberg via Getty

Graham Barclay/Bloomberg via Getty

Speaking with PEOPLE before Lynch’s body was recovered, Danny Fortson — who interviewed Lynch for theThe Sunday Times— said that he felt the businessman was “excited and very thankful,” but also still"struggling to accept" his new realityafter such a sudden change.

He was also looking forward to “making up for lost time” with his family.

“This case, especially as it got closer to trial, became all-encompassing and so he missed out on a lot of stuff with his daughters,” the journalist added.

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According toThe Sunday Times, Hannah was set to study poetry at Oxford while her older sister, 21, was studying physics at Imperial College, just like her father.

Hannah’s disappearance left her former school Latymer Upper School in London “incredibly shocked.”

source: people.com