Mike Lynch’s ‘goodbye’ to family as he feared death weeks before yacht trip | World | News

Mike Lynch, the entrepreneur who remains missing after the yacht he was on sank off the coast of Sicily, spoke of how he feared he would die in an interview just one month before the incident.

In an interview with The Times, Mr Lynch spoke about his recent legal battle as he stood trial in the US and faced the prospect of 25 years in prison.

The entrepreneur was worried he would not survive in prison due to his lung condition.

He said: “I had to say goodbye to everything and everyone because I didn’t know if I’d ever be coming back. If this had gone the wrong way, it would have been the end of my life as I know it in any sense.”

Mr Lynch sold his tech business – Autonomy – to Hewlett-Packard for $11bn (£8.6bn), of which Mr Lynch received £500million.

However, the deal fell through, and Mr Lynch was accused of inflating the value of the business.

After years of legal battles, the entrepreneur was eventually acquitted in June this year.

Mr Lynch, 59, and his 18-year-old daughter are still missing while his wife, Angela Bacares, has been rescued after the businessmen’s yacht sank.

Two Americans and a Canadian person are also missing. So far, 15 people have been rescued. One body was found near where the yacht sank, but six others were unaccounted for.

The yacht sank after it was caught up in a storm.

Witnesses described seeing T-shirts and cushions in the water after the yacht disappeared “all of a sudden.”

Among those who were rescued was a mother and her one-year-old baby. They have been taken to local hospitals and are in stable condition.

The mother, Charlotte, kept her daughter afloat “with all my strength”, she told La Repubblica.

The British citizen added: “It was all dark. In the water, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I was screaming for help, but all I could hear around me were the screams of others.”