An Unprecedented Tornado Sinks British Superyacht “Bayesian” off Sicily Coast.
In an astonishing and tragic turn of events, a violent storm, referred to as a ‘tornado’ by some European media outlets, led to the sinking of a British-flagged superyacht called “Bayesian” early on Monday morning. The incident took place near the coast of Sicily. Local authorities have confirmed one death and six people are still missing, among them British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer. At the time of the incident, the yacht was carrying 22 individuals.
This episode has raised several questions due to its unusual sequence of events. Just days prior to the sinking of Bayesian off the coast of Porticello – a small fishing village situated between Palermo and Cefalu on Sicily’s western shoreline, Lynch’s co-defendant in the US Autonomy-Hewlett-Packard fraud trial was struck by a car. The tragic accident occurred while Stephen Chamberlain, Autonomy’s former vice president of finance who worked closely with CEO Mr Lynch, was out for a run near his home in England.
Further details from The Independent report that 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 back in 2011. However, on June 6th a federal court jury in San Francisco acquitted both Lynch and Chamberlain after an 11-week criminal trial. According to the Pew Research Center analysis, only 0.4% of federal criminal cases ended in acquittal in 2022, which made their successful defense extremely fortunate.
However, this good fortune seemed to run out for both men shortly afterward. Chamberlain was killed by a vehicle while jogging and Lynch is currently missing following the tornado that struck the superyacht he was aboard. Bloomer from Morgan Stanley was also on board, and Italian authorities confirmed his disappearance as well.
In further detail from Bloomberg about Bloomer: Jonathan Bloomer, 70, has spent five decades in the finance industry and is known for his role as chairman of Morgan Stanley’s European business since 2018. He was also named to lead British insurer Hiscox Ltd.’s board last year. Bloomer is a friend of Lynch and was a witness for the defense during their legal battle with Hewlett Packard.
The most confounding aspect of this situation is how both men transitioned from being the luckiest individuals – acquitted in a high-profile federal criminal fraud case – to unlucky ones, with Chamberlain meeting his untimely demise and Lynch now missing following an unprecedented tornado on their yacht. The mystery continues to deepen as more details of these unusual incidents emerge.
