Tycoon whose family and friends feared he was aboard missing yacht reveals chilling theory on why it sunk

An American entrepreneur linked to a billionaire missing after his superyacht sunk has revealed a chilling theory on why it sank.

Scott Painter – who took over missing Mike Lynch’s Autonomy brand – says the Bayesian may have been more vulnerable to capsizing in bad weather because of the height of its mast.

Painter, who is based in the US, told DailyMail.com The Bayesian ‘had an unusually large mast for a sloop.’ (single-masted ship)

‘The mast was the ultimate sailor’s bragging right,’ Painter told DailyMail.com. ‘That mast must’ve been over 240 feet tall, which is either the tallest or second tallest in the world.

At least one person died and six remain missing, including tech tycoon Mike Lynch, after a tornado hit the Porticello coast near Palermo, Italy where the superyacht Bayesian was docked

He added: ‘That could certainly contribute to a capsize as it would destabilize the yacht. And if it were to lean over too far, it could absolutely capsize the yacht.’

Painter says he received panicked calls from family and friends fearing he may have been on board the vessel and was glad to reassure them that he was fine.

Tragically, at least one person was killed in Monday morning’s sinking during a storm off the coast of Palermo in Sicily. Six – including Lynch – remain missing.  

Painter, CEO if the largest EV subscription business in the US operating under the Autonomy brand, said he was shocked and saddened by the news of Lynch’s disappearance.

Lynch, who is one of the UK’s richest men and worth an estimated £852million ($1.1 billion), remains unaccounted for, along with his 18-year-old daughter.

Tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, who was often referred to as the ‘British Bill Gates’, was on holiday with family when tragedy struck and ‘freak’ waterspout took down his luxury boat

A handout photo made available on 19 August 2024 by Perini Navi Press Office shows the ‘Bayesian’ sailing boat, in Palermo, Sicily, Italy

His wife – Angela Bacares – was rescued and recovering from her injuries.

The Bayesian carried 10 crewmembers, Lynch, his wife and daughter Hannah as well as nine other guests.

‘We are praying for positive news,’ Painter told DailyMail.com exclusively. ‘Mike is a legend and the loss him and his daughter would truly be tragic.’ 

The vessel was spotted on the sea bed 160ft beneath the Sicilian coast. 

Six of the passengers – who include four British and two unnamed American citizens – still remain unaccounted for, with some in the tech community initially fearing that  Painter also was on the ill-fated voyager.

The body of the boat’s chef, Canadian Ricardo Thomas, was found floating alongside the vessel earlier today. 

British mother Charlotte Golunski and her one-year-old baby named Sofia were reported to be among those rescued by a nearby sailboat.

The Bayesian carried ten crewmembers, Lynch, his wife and daughter Hannah as well as nine other guests 

Lynch, 59, who was often referred to as ‘British’s Bill Gates’, sold his UK business software firm Autonomy to the American tech giant Hewlett-Packard for $11billion in 2011. 

But the deal turned sour after he was accused of cooking the books to make the sale. Lynch was fired by HP’s then-CEO Meg Whitman, which resulted in a decade-long legal battle.

British firm Micro Focus took over some of HP’s remaining assets from its 2011 purchase of Autonomy. 

Painter, who founded auto retailer TrueCar, and entrepreneur Georg Bauer, acquired the Autonomy brand and its IP library from teach firm Micro Focus in 2021.

Painter developed an all-electric vehicle subscription company and maintained the name Autonomy. 

He has since developed a new company called Autonomy Data Services that provides a software platform where automakers can operate their own subscription services for electric, gas, new, or even used cars, according to TechCrunch.com. 

Georg Bauer, Autonomy’s president and chairman, was not on board the ill-fated superyacht

When news of Lynch’s boat sinking in Sicily made international headlines, Painter said his friends and family were worried he might’ve been one of the passengers on the luxury yacht.

Painter confirmed Bauer, who is Autonomy’s president and chairman, also was not on the Bayesian luxury yacht.

‘Mr. Bauer is safe in Munich and was not involved at all,’ Painter told DailyMail.com. ‘It’s pretty crazy news. That boat was exceptional. It doesn’t make much sense.’

Lynch and his family and friends were enjoying their trip on the coast of Italy just two months after he was acquitted of fraud and conspiracy charges related to the multibillion dollar HP deal. 

The tech giant was extradited from the UK in to face criminal charges in a San Francisco federal court in March.

Prosecutors alleged he ran a massive scam against HP in connection to its 2011 acquisition of Autonomy, a software firm that Lynch founded in 1996 and then oversaw as CEO in Britain. 

Tech tycoon and married father-of-two Mr Lynch is pictured here with his wife Angela, who was rescued on Monday

Divers comb the sea to search for the missing where the superyacht sunk off the coast of Sicily on August 19

Prosecutors called more than 30 witnesses during Lynch’s criminal trial in attempt to prove allegations that he cooked the books and bilked billions of dollars from HP.

Lynch denied the allegations and said he was being made into HP’s scapegoat, which he reiterated when he took the stand during the 11-week criminal trial.

Lynch was facing the possibility of spending 25 years in a US federal prison if he was found guilty but on June 6, the jury acquitted the tech tycoon on all 15 felony counts.

The father of two returned to the UK shortly after the trial and said he was thankful to get a ‘second life’. 

Speaking in his first newspaper interview, he told The Times: ‘I’d had to say goodbye to everything and everyone, because I didn’t know if I’d ever be coming back.’

He added: ‘If this had gone the wrong way, it would have been the end of my life as I have known it in any sense.

‘It’s bizarre, but now you have a second life – the question is, what do you want to do with it?’