Tech tycoon Mike Lynch died from drowning after his superyacht sank, inquest hears

• British tech tycoon Mike Lynch died from drowning, an inquest heard.
• Lynch and six others died after the superyacht Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily in August.
• Lynch founded software company Autonomy in 1996 and sold it to HP for more than $11 billion in 2011.

Tech tycoon Mike Lynch died from drowning after the Bayesian superyacht sank off the coast of Porticello, Sicily, an inquest heard on Friday, multiple outlets reported.

Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, and five others died after the vessel was caught in a heavy storm in August.

Mike Brown, a senior police officer, told a coroner’s court in the UK on Friday that the provisional cause of death for Lynch was given as drowning, while his daughter’s death was still under investigation.

Jonathan Bloomer, who was the chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife, Judy, also died after the yacht went down.

Brown said their causes of death were also still under investigation.

Inquests into the four deaths have been adjourned until April 2025.

Italian media previously reported that the bodies of Jonathan and Judy Bloomer — as well as those of passengers Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda — had shown signs that they had been trapped inside air bubbles before suffocating to death.

Recaldo Thomas, a chef on board the yacht who also died during the incident, likely drowned, an investigative source told Reuters last month.

Italian authorities have said a “downburst,” or gust of wind linked to thunderstorms, was the most likely cause of the sinking, per BBC News.

Three crew members who were onboard the yacht when it sank were placed under investigation by Italian authorities following the disaster”: Matthew Griffiths, a sailor who was on watch duty; James Cutfield, the captain; and Tim Parker Eaton, the yacht’s engineer.

Lynch founded the software company Autonomy in 1996 and sold it to HP for more than $11 billion in 2011.

He was on the Bayesian with friends and family celebrating a recent acquittal in a fraud trial related to the sale of Autonomy.