Mike Lynch disappears hours after death of his co-defendant in HP fraud trial. Conspiracy theories abound | Trending

Mike Lynch, one of Britain's best-known tech tycoons, was reported missing after his luxury superyacht sank off the coast of Italy on Monday. His disappearance came hours after Stephen Chamberlain, his co-defendant in a US fraud trial, was killed when he was hit by a car while jogging. Two strange accidents in quick succession were seen as too much of a coincidence on social media, where conspiracy theories mushroomed following Lynch's disappearance.

According to Reuters, Mike Lynch spent more than a decade building Britain's biggest software company and then almost as long fighting allegations of fraud surrounding the company's multi-billion pound sale.

Lynch founded Autonomy in 1996 based on his groundbreaking research at Cambridge University. Fifteen years later, he sold the company to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion. But in late 2012, HP shocked Wall Street and the City of London when it alleged a massive accounting scandal at the company and wrote off $8.8 billion of its value.

After a 12-year legal battle, Lynch was acquitted of the charges by a jury in San Francisco in June. The billionaire was celebrating the verdict on his luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily when it sank due to bad weather.

News of his disappearance came hours after Stephen Chamberlain, Autonomy's former vice president of finance, was killed in a car crash. Chamberlain, 52, was hit by a car while jogging on Saturday.

The social media platform X was flooded with conspiracy theories.

“Can’t be a coincidence”

“I'm sorry, but this is just too strange. It can't possibly be a coincidence that Mike Lynch and Stephen Chamberlain both died in bizarre accidents within days of each other,” said Professor Katherine Schofield.

“I'm not normally a big conspiracy theorist, but the fact that Mike Lynch and Stephen Chamberlain disappeared and died so close together after being declared innocent in connection with the Autonomy sale definitely got me thinking this morning…” wrote X-user Clive Ansell.

X user Mike Cosgrove also expressed doubts that the two accidents were not accidental. “So as soon as he gets an acquittal and starts talking about US control over the British government and British courts, Mike Lynch suddenly disappears,” he wrote.

Bayesian, Lynch's superyacht, was carrying 22 people when it capsized off the Italian island of Sicily after being hit by a waterspout. Fifteen people were rescued, one was found dead and six – including the British tech tycoon – are still missing.

(With contributions from agencies)