EXCLUSIVE Family and friends of tycoon feared missing on sunken superyacht get good news Entrepreneur Scott Painter said he was not on board Mike Lynch's superyacht He called the Lynch a 'legend' and the incident a 'tragedy' READ MORE: Brit tycoon and 18-year old daughter among feared dead By Marjorie Hernandez West Coast News Editor For Dailymail.Com Published: 02:23 BST, 20 August 2024 | Updated: 02:28 BST, 20 August 2024 e-mail View comments A US entrepreneur who took over Mike Lynch's 'Autonomy' brand said he received panicked calls from friends and family who feared he might've been on board the tech boss' superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily. Scott Painter confirmed he was not on board the Bayesian luxury yacht, which authorities say sank just before 5am Monday because of a freak waterspout.
The vessel was anchored off the coast of Porticello, a small fishing village located in the province of Palermo in Italy , when it 'suddenly sank' most likely 'due to terrible weather conditions, according a statement released by the City Council of Bagheria. Painter, CEO if the largest EV subscription business in the US operating under the Autonomy brand, said he was shocked and saddened by the news of Lynch's disappearance. Lynch, who is one of the UK's richest men and worth an estimated £852million, remains unaccounted for, along with his 18-year-old daughter.
Tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, who was often referred to as the 'British Bill Gates', was on holiday with family when tragedy struck and 'freak' waterspout took down his luxury boat A handout photo made available on 19 August 2024 by Perini Navi Press Office shows the 'Bayesian' sailing boat, in Palermo, Sicily, Italy His wife - Angela Bacares - was rescued and recovering from her injuries. The Bayesian carried 10 crewmembers, Lynch, his wife and daughter Hannah as well as nine other guests. 'We are praying for positive news,' Painter told DailyMail.
com exclusively. 'Mike is a legend and the loss him and his daughter would truly be tragic.' The vessel was spotted on the sea bed 160ft beneath the Sicilian coast.
Six of the passengers - who include four British and two unnamed American citizens - still remain unaccounted for, leaving some to think Painter also was on the ill-fated voyager. The body of the boat's chef, Canadian Ricardo Thomas, was found floating alongside the vessel earlier today. British mother Charlotte Golunski and her one-year-old baby named Sofia were reported to be among those rescued by a nearby sailboat.
Painter said although he has never been on board the Bayesian luxury yacht, he said he was familiar with the vessel and thought it 'had an unusually large mast for a sloop.' 'The mast was the ultimate sailor's bragging right,' Painter told DailyMail.com.
'That mast must've been over 240 feet tall, which is either the tallest or second tallest in the world. He added: 'That could certainly contribute to a capsize as it would destabilize the yacht. And if it were to lean over too far, it could absolutely capsize the yacht.
' Entrepreneur Scott Painter, who acquired Mike Lynch's former business software company Autonomy, said family and friends frantically tried to reach him in fear that he was possibly on of the 15 passengers on board the superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily The Bayesian carried ten crewmembers, Lynch, his wife and daughter Hannah as well as nine other guests Lynch, 59, who was often referred to as 'British's Bill Gates', sold his UK business software firm Autonomy to the American tech giant Hewlett-Packard for $11billion in 2011. But the deal turned sour after he was accused of cooking the books to make the sale. Lynch was fired by HP’s then-CEO Meg Whitman, which resulted in a decade-long legal battle.
British firm Micro Focus took over some of HP's remaining assets from its 2011 purchase of Autonomy. Painter, who founded auto retailer TrueCar, and entrepreneur Georg Bauer, acquired the Autonomy brand and its IP library from teach firm Micro Focus in 2021. Painter developed an all-electric vehicle subscription company and maintained the name Autonomy.
He has since developed a new company called Autonomy Data Services that provides a software platform where automakers can operate their own subscription services for electric, gas, new, or even used cars, according to TechCrunch.com. Georg Bauer, Autonomy's president and chairman, was not on board the ill-fated superyacht When news of Lynch's boat sinking in Sicily made international headlines, Painter said his friends and family were worried he might've been one of the passengers on the luxury yacht.
Painter confirmed Bauer, who is Autonomy's president and chairman, also was not on the Bayesian luxury yacht. 'Mr. Bauer is safe in Munich and was not involved at all,' Painter told DailyMail.
com. 'It's pretty crazy news. That boat was exceptional.
It doesn't make much sense.' Lynch and his family and friends were enjoying their trip on the coast of Italy just two months after he was acquitted of fraud and conspiracy charges related to the multibillion dollar HP deal. The tech giant was extradited from the UK in to face criminal charges in a San Francisco federal court in March.
Prosecutors alleged he ran a massive scam against HP in connection to its 2011 acquisition of Autonomy, a software firm that Lynch founded in 1996 and then oversaw as CEO in Britain. Tech tycoon and married father-of-two Mr Lynch is pictured here with his wife Angela, who was rescued on Monday Divers comb the sea to search for the missing where the superyacht sunk off the coast of Sicily on August 19 Prosecutors called more than 30 witnesses during Lynch's criminal trial in attempt to prove allegations that he cooked the books and bilked billions of dollars from HP. Lynch denied the allegations and said he was being made into HP’s scapegoat, which he reiterated when he took the stand during the 11-week criminal trial.
Lynch was facing the possibility of spending 25 years in a US federal prison if he was found guilty but on June 6, the jury acquitted the tech tycoon on all 15 felony counts. The father of two returned to the UK shortly after the trial and said he was thankful to get a 'second life'. Speaking in his first newspaper interview , he told The Times: 'I'd had to say goodbye to everything and everyone, because I didn't know if I'd ever be coming back.
' He added: 'If this had gone the wrong way, it would have been the end of my life as I have known it in any sense. 'It's bizarre, but now you have a second life - the question is, what do you want to do with it?' Italy Share or comment on this article: Family and friends of tycoon feared missing on sunken superyacht get good news e-mail Add comment.
