British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch reported missing after superyacht sinks off Sicily

LONDON — British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch is missing after the sinking of a superyacht off the coast of Sicily, sources familiar with the matter told CNBC.

The sources, who preferred not to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation, said that Angela Bacares, Lynch's wife, was confirmed as having been rescued.

The superyacht, called the Bayesian, capsized at around 5 a.m. local time while anchored off the coast of Porticello, a small fishing village located in the province of Palermo in Italy, according to various media reports.

The vessel was reportedly struck by an unexpectedly violent storm.

At least one man has died and six others were reported missing, while 15 people were rescued including a 1-year-old baby, NBC News reported, citing local officials.

The yacht "suddenly sank" most likely "due to the terrible weather conditions," the City Council of Bagheria said, according to NBC.

Lynch, 59, is the founder of enterprise software firm Autonomy. He became the target of a protracted legal battle with Hewlett Packard after the U.S. tech giant accused him of inflating Autonomy's value in an $11 billion sale.

HP took an $8.8 billion write-down on the value of Autonomy within a year of buying it.

Lynch was extradited from Britain to the U.S. last year to stand trial over the HP allegations. In June, he was acquitted of fraud charges following the trial, which lasted for three months.

Lynch was born in Ilford, a large town in East London, in 1965 and grew up near Chelmsford in the English county of Essex. He attended the University of Cambridge, where he studied natural sciences, focusing on areas including electronics, mathematics and biology.

After completing his undergraduate studies, Lynch completed a Ph.D. in signals