Close-knit family life of missing 'British Bill Gates' and beloved country home (2024)

As the search continues for missing entrepreneur Mike Lynch, the Mirror takes a look at the mogul's extraordinary life, from his staggering net worth to the charming farm he calls home

The search continues for six missing passengers who were aboard the doomed yacht Bayesian, which sank off the coast of Sicily in the early hours of Monday morning.

Among those missing is Mike Lynch, a tech tycoon often referred to as the 'British Bill Gates', and his teenage daughter Hannah. Morgan Stanley chair Jonathan Bloomer is also among the missing.

The yacht was battered during intense storms off the coast of Palermo, and the body of one man has been recovered. Fifteen people, including Mike's wife Angela have been rescued, according to local media.

For Mike and his family, this luxury holiday had been a chance to celebrate after he was acquitted in a fraud case that had been ongoing for 12 long years. Instead, their dream trip turned into a nightmare.

Staggering net worth

The British-Irish entrepreneur has amassed an enormous fortune, but came from a fairly ordinary working-class background. Born to a fireman and a nurse, ambitious Mike started off his working life cleaning the floors of the hospital where his mother worked. A scholarship to the prestigious Bancroft's School in Woodford Green led to a place at Cambridge University, where the clever student earned a PhD in mathematical computing, before kickstarting his first business in the late 1980s, with funds of just £2,000.

In 1996, Mike founded software company Autonomy, centred around processing human information and data. It was then that Mike's star really began to soar and, in 2011, he sold Autonomy to US computing Titan Hewlett-Packard (HP) for an incredible $11 billion (£8.6 billion). BBC News reports that it's believed Mike netted an approximate £500 million from the sale, before going on to establish tech investment company, Invoke Capital.

Unfortunately, just one year after the lucrative sale, HP reported a writedown of $US8.8 billion ($13 billion) – including more than $US5 billion ($7.4 billion) - attributing to pumped up data from Autonomy and resulting in Mike facing serious allegations of fraud.

Having always maintained his innocence in the face of 17 charges - which could have seen him spend two decades behind bars - Mike finally cleared his name in June, and was acquitted on all charges in a Californian courtroom. This meant he could finally return to the UK to be with loved ones after a one year stretch of house arrest.

In an interview with The Times just last month, Mike appeared to be optimistic about the future, telling the publication: "If this had gone the wrong way, it would have been the end of life as I have known it in any sense. It's a very strange situation to now be in a different mindset where you're back. I stood on Piccadilly Circus the other day, which has the most enormous permanent traffic jam, and I'm just thinking, 'This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen'."

He continued: "It's bizarre, but now you have a second life. The question is, what do you want to do with it?"

Family life

Mike is married to Angela Bacares, who was with him when the boat sank. Although Angela tends to keep a low profile, it's understood the Bayesian is owned by her company, Revtom.

Mike and Angela have two daughters, aged 21 and 18. Younger daughter Hannah was on the yacht with her parents at the time of the sinking, and is still unaccounted for. She is due to read English at Oxford University, and appears to have inherited her father's intelligence.

According to The Times, a friend has described Hannah as a 'supernova' and 'staunch feminist', stating that she is 'gentle and kind, while also fun and fierce. A voracious reader and natural intellectual'.

Angela, 57, managed to escape after the tragic sinking, and is currently awaiting news of Mike and Hannah. Speaking with Italian media, Angela revealed that she was awoken by a 'slight tilt' shortly before 5am - the first sign of the freak waterspout that caused the catastrophe.

Initially, Angela, who rose to see what was going on, says those onboard were not immediately concerned. It was then that glass shattered, sparking confusion among passengers. Italian outlet La Repubblica reports that Angela, who is now recovering in a wheelchair, has sustained abrasions on her feet, believed to be due to walking on shards of glass during the horror sinking.

Beloved country abode

Before travelling to Sicily, Mike had been recuperating from his long legal ordeal at his cherished Suffolk farm, which spans some 2,500 acres. It's here where the family keep rare breed livestock, including Suffolk sheep and Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, which can be seen running around in the estate's woodland. He also has five beloved dogs, which he reportedly named after engineering parts. Two of the pups are called Switch and Valve, the Daily Mail reports.

Mike recently spoke about just how much Suffolk means to him during an interview with the East Anglian Daily Times on Thursday, August 1, telling the publication: "Suffolk is totally home for me. The lovely thing I find about Suffolk is there is still a real community there. You get to know lots of people doing all sorts of things. When you have been there a time you watch the journey of their lives."

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