Tech tycoon Mike Lynch died by drowning after the Bayesian superyacht sunk off the coast of Sicily, an inquest has heard.
The 59-year-old billionaire, who founded software giant Autonomy in 1996, was one of seven people who died in the disaster off the coast of Sicily in August.
An inquest into his death, as well as the three other British victims, including his daughter Hannah Lynch, 18, Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his 71-year-old wife Judy Bloomer has been opened and adjourned at Suffolk Coroner’s Court, in Ipswich.
Suffolk Police Detective Superintendent Michael Brown said the provisional cause of death for Mr Lynch was given as drowning, while the cause of death for the other three is still under investigation.
The boat trip was a celebration of Mr Lynch’s acquittal in a US trial in June over allegations he carried out a massive fraud over the sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.
There were 22 people on board, including his wife Angela Bacares, who was among the 15 people rescued, after the vessel sank during a violent storm.
Suffolk’s senior coroner Nigel Parsley adjourned the inquest until 15 April.
US lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo, and Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the vessel, also died in the disaster.
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