Missing superyacht owner Mike Lynch is a “hero” and a “freedom fighter,” says his business partner

David Tabizel, friend and business partner of technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch, has called him a “hero” and “freedom fighter.”

Asked about Lynch's alleged death, Mr Tabizel said he had hoped for a miracle, adding that he was probably the most resilient person he had ever met.

In an exclusive interview, Tabizel told Michelle Dewberry on GB News: “Mike is a very human man. He is probably the most resilient person I have ever met in my life. I have never heard him lie.”

“I think he has a strong personality. If anyone could still exist in those terrible physical circumstances, if there was a bubble, he would have found it. So let's just keep our fingers crossed. First of all, I don't want to talk about him in the past tense.

“He is one of the rarest animals you will ever find. He is a great scientist. He is a teacher. He is a good communicator. He is a businessman and unlike most entrepreneurs, he can execute the big idea properly but also manage everything.

“He has an intense, focused energy and, I think, a real sense of justice. He's one of the three or four entrepreneurs of our generation, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, I wouldn't put Elon Musk in that category, who can do anything, and he can do that too.”

“It's been an honour to work with him and know him for 30 years. The last time I spoke to him, we exchanged messages earlier, last week. We talked about meeting at his place in Suffolk and about hearing aids. We both have hearing loss and he talked about using AI to look at ways to improve the effectiveness of these devices.

“And the important thing is that Autonomy was probably the first major artificial intelligence company on the planet, let alone in the UK.”

Asked about the US fraud trial over the sale of Autonomy, he said: “It's terrible. Mike Lynch was a billionaire. He's a billionaire with extraordinary intelligence and extraordinary resilience. He fought his way through and would undoubtedly have ended up in prison if he hadn't been rich, intelligent and dedicated.”

“But who wants to lose 10 or 12 years of their life doing that? But he did it, and I think that's a lesson we have to learn now on both sides of the Atlantic: When business gets into government and controls the law, we're all vulnerable, all of us.”

He added: “He is extraordinary because this man has no intellectual weaknesses. He has a strong character and is determined. But now we must regain our economic sovereignty. We should encourage and celebrate our entrepreneurs. That is what will pull us out of our current misery.”

“If we don't do that, we'll become a third world country. We need to show people that we can get out of this economic mess by working hard, being ambitious and positive, by understanding how to create capital and by basically making sure our governments understand that and don't confront us with a brain drain that could basically lead the country into decades of poverty.

“Listen, this is a wonderful country full of exciting innovation. We need to build a consensus that creates prosperity and Mike Lynch is probably Britain's greatest businessman of the last 35 years.

“My prayers are with the family and I just hope that a miracle happens. And if anyone can make it happen, it's Mike Lynch.”

He added: “If there's any chance he survives this – he has the strength, the power to do that, and I hope we're not speaking in the past tense. He's a remarkable man.”

“And if you've had the good fortune and the honor to work with him or know him, you know he's a force of nature and I think he's going to be a legend in business, in the intellectual world and in science for decades to come.”

SEE ABOVE.