Lynch’s superyacht, the Bayesian, sank off the coast of Sicily during a violent storm. According to the Italian coastguard, the 56-metre British-flagged sailboat, carrying 22 people, was anchored near the port of Porticello when it was struck by a tornado in the early hours.

Italian media reported that a waterspout, resembling a mini-tornado, struck the vessel. Fisher people nearby witnessed a distress flare and found only scattered remains of the sailboat.

One man, believed to be the vessel’s chef, has been confirmed dead. Six others, including Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, remain unaccounted for. The missing individuals hold British, American, and Canadian nationalities.

Fifteen people were rescued, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, who owned the boat, and a one-year-old girl saved by her mother.

Lynch, co-founder of the software firm Autonomy, has been a prominent figure in the UK tech scene since the mid-90s. He has spent much of the past decade defending himself against fraud allegations related to the $11 billion sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard.

A San Francisco jury acquitted him in June after he had been living under house arrest for over a year.

Lynch’s co-defendant, Stephen Chamberlain, died after being hit by a car while running in Cambridgeshire. Chamberlain, the former vice president of finance at Autonomy, was placed on life support but succumbed to his injuries.

Lynch, who was awarded an OBE in 2006 and is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society, had expressed his eagerness to return to the UK and resume his work after his acquittal.