Tech tycoon Mike Lynch, one of six people missing after a yacht sank off Sicily, was striving to rebuild his legacy after a major Silicon Valley scandal. Lynch, 59, became a tech icon by founding Autonomy, which he sold to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011. However, the deal soured when he was accused of inflating the company’s value, leading to a prolonged legal battle.

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The yacht was apparently caught in a tornado which caused it to sink off the coast of Sicily.

Despite being cleared of criminal charges in the U.S. earlier this year, Lynch still faces a civil case in London, where HP is seeking $4 billion in damages. Before these legal troubles, Lynch was celebrated as a visionary, likened to tech giants like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. His company, Autonomy, developed a search engine that revolutionized how businesses processed information, earning him the Order of the British Empire in 2006.

Lynch, who earned over $800 million from the Autonomy sale, denied any wrongdoing throughout the legal ordeal, asserting that HP’s mishandling of the deal was to blame. Although he avoided prison, the civil case continues to loom over him as his fate remains uncertain following the yacht incident.