Body of British tech magnate Mike Lynch recovered from sunken superyacht

PORTICELLO, Sicily — The body of British tech magnate Mike Lynch was recovered from the wreck of a superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC Thursday.

Rescuers were still searching for Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah, the source said, the last person missing from the luxury boat that went down in what authorities said was a freak storm early Monday.

A massive search effort was launched, and four bodies were recovered from the 180-foot Bayesian on Wednesday after an operation hampered by the depth to which the wreck had sunk and the debris that blocked divers’ path through its narrow passages.

Salvatore Cocina, head of Sicily’s civil protection agency, confirmed to NBC News on Thursday morning that a fifth body had been recovered. And hours later, CNBC reported that Lynch, regularly described in U.K. media as “Britain’s Bill Gates,” was one of them.

The U.K.’s Royal Academy of Engineering said Thursday morning that it was “deeply saddened to learn of the death of Mike Lynch,” who is one of its fellows. “Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time,” the academy said in a statement on X.

The others missing were Lynch’s associates, who had successfully defended him in a blockbuster U.S. fraud trial earlier this summer: Chairman of Morgan Stanley International and the British insurance firm Hiscox, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy; as well as a well-known New York City defense attorney Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda.

The body of Recaldo Thomas, the ship’s cook and a Canadian Antiguan national, was recovered shortly after the accident on Monday. 

Fifteen of the 22 people onboard the yacht survived.

Waves gently crashed against the rocks of Porticello, a port near the Italian island’s main city Palermo, with the sea calm as rescuers brought ashore green body bags Wednesday — a stark contrast to just three days ago when officials believe the yacht was hit by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout.

The vessel was anchored about a half-mile offshore when it sank, leaving divers to search the yacht’s hull on the seabed some 164 feet underwater.

The dock has swarmed for days with journalists, photographers and curious onlookers taking photos with their smartphones as rescue teams traveled to and from the site of the wreck.

Claudio Lavanga reported from Porticello. Yuliya Talmazan reported from London.