Update (1242ET):

The Wall Street Journal cited Italian Coast Guard officials who said British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer, and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo are presumed dead after a superyacht they were chartering was hit by a waterspout before capsizing off the coast of Sicily early Monday. 

Here’s more from WSJ:

One of Lynch’s daughters, Bloomer’s wife, Judy, and Morvillo’s wife, Neda, also were among the missing.

Authorities confirmed the body of the yacht’s cook had been recovered.

The coast guard said the bodies of the missing are likely trapped in the yacht. Rescuers were reassessing how to access the wreckage, after the first inspection by cave divers was blocked by debris, the coast guard said.

“The space is very tight, because everything fell when she capsized,” Luca Cari, the head of Italy’s national firefighters’ corps told reporters. “Divers are trying to remove furnishings, wires and other debris to clear the passageways.”

Italian daily newspaper La Stampa posted on X:

Bayesian Sinks, Cameras in Homes and Shops Under Review. Video Shows Sinking Vessel: “Disappeared in 60 Seconds”

Naufragio del Bayesian, al vaglio le telecamere di case e negozi. In un video il veliero che affonda: “Scomparso in 60 secondi” https://t.co/IiyXDAfiOo

— La Stampa (@LaStampa) August 20, 2024

BBC notes a waterspout likely caused the superyacht to capsize:

“There are separate reports the boat’s mast snapped during the freak storm and other factors in the boat’s sinking include water entering through hatches and doors which had been left open because of warm weather off the Italian coast.” 

*   *   * 

An unexpected violent storm, which some EU media outlets described as a ‘tornado,’ sank the British-flagged superyacht “Bayesian” early Monday morning off the coast of Sicily. Local authorities confirmed one dead, and six people are missing, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer. Bayesian was carrying 22 people during what appears to be a ‘weather-related’ incident.

Superyacht BAYESIAN sank off Palermo after a tornado hit early this morning. 15 rescued, 6 missing, including tech tycoon Mike Lynch.

MarineTraffic data shows its last signal received via AIS at 2:06 UTC before sinking.

Read more on the story: https://t.co/WOL75loP7I pic.twitter.com/vxzVraSrIF

— MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) August 19, 2024

Let’s take a step back because the plot thickens here. Just days before the Bayesian sank to the ocean floor, off the coast of Porticello – a small fishing village nestled between Palermo and Cefalu on Sicily’s western shore – Lynch’s co-defendant in the US Autonomy-Hewlett-Packard fraud trial was struck and killed by a car while out for a run near his home in England on Saturday. 

Source: GBN

Here’s more from The Independent:

Stephen Chamberlain, Autonomy’s former vice president of finance, who worked alongside chief executive Mr Lynch, was killed after being hit by a vehicle while out running on Saturday, his lawyer, Gary Lincenberg said.

…

In a statement, Mr Lincenberg said: “Our dear client and friend Steve Chamberlain was fatally struck by a car on Saturday while out running.

“He was a courageous man with unparalleled integrity. We deeply miss him. Steve fought successfully to clear his good name at trial earlier this year, and his good name now lives on through his wonderful family.”

Chamberlain faced similar fraud and conspiracy charges as his former boss, Lynch, for allegedly conspiring to inflate their company Autonomy before it was sold to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011. 

On June 6, a federal court jury in San Francisco found Lynch and Chamberlain not guilty following an 11-week criminal trial. 

According to the Pew Research Center analysis, only 0.4% of federal criminal cases in 2022 ended in acquittal, which means the two executives were extremely lucky with the positive outcome. 

However, not so much in the last several days, with Chamberlain killed by a vehicle while on a jog and Lynch missing after a tornado hit the superyacht he was on. 

Also on the vessel was Bloomer from Morgan Stanley, who has been confirmed missing by Italian authorities. 

Here’s more from Bloomberg about Bloomer… 

Bloomer, 70, has worked in the finance industry for five decades. He’s been chairman of Morgan Stanley’s European business since 2018, and was named to lead British insurer Hiscox Ltd.’s board last year. He is a friend of Lynch and was a witness for the defense in the long-running legal battle with Hewlett Packard.

The real mystery is how Lynch and Chamberlain went from being the luckiest men—acquitted in a federal criminal fraud case—to the unlikeliest in separate, unexpected incidents just days apart.