Angela Bacares, widow of tech businessman Mike Lynch, is struggling with grief and survivor's guilt as the bodies of her husband and daughter, Hannah, arrive in England after theirr tragic yacht accident. A month after the incident, which killed seven people off the coast of Sicily, Bacares also faces the pressure of a potential $4 billion lawsuit from Hewlett Packard (HPE) over fraud claims against Lynch's estate.
The accident occurred just as Lynch, once called the "British Bill Gates," had been cleared of fraud charges in the U.S. and was preparing to speak at a literary festival.
Chaos Leading To The Tragic Event
Mike Lynch, a UK businessman, once expressed disbelief after his recent acquittal on fraud charges in the United States. He compared the unexpected verdict, initially thought to have a mere 0.5 percent chance, to "jumping universes."
"If this had gone the wrong way, it would have been the end of life as I have known it," he said. In an alternate reality, the tech billionaire often referred to as "the British Bill Gates" would have been attending the Cliveden Literary Festival in Berkshire with his wife, Bacares, and their two daughters, Hannah (18) and Esme (21).
Lynch was scheduled to deliver a keynote address on artificial intelligence and the future of technology at the Cliveden Literary Festival, an event he and Bacares had attended for years. They had also brought their daughter, Hannah, to hear some of her favourite authors speak.
Instead of attending the literary festival, Angela Bacares Lynch, 57, finds herself in a devastating reality where her husband and younger daughter have tragically passed away.
Just over a month ago, seven people, including Mike and his younger daughter, lost their lives when their £30 million yacht, Bayesian, sank off the coast of Sicily during a severe storm in the early morning hours.
To Angela's dismay, HPE has announced that it will not drop the fraud claims against Mike Lynch and plans to seek damages of up to $4 billion from his estate. As reported by The Guardian, HPE won a civil lawsuit against Lynch in 2022, accusing him and his former finance director, Sushovan Hussain, of fraud in connection with the 2011 acquisition of his software company, Autonomy.
The Associated Press reports that Lynch's widow could potentially be held liable for the charges.
What We Know About Angela Bacares
Bacares survived the sinking of her family's £30 million yacht, Bayesian, off the coast of Sicily in August 2024. According to a report by The Sun, she sustained injuries after scaling over broken glass to exit the boat.
Due to the cuts on her feet, she required a wheelchair following her rescue. According to British media, Bacares has consistently supported her husband at public events despite maintaining a low profile.
Angela Bacares' Business Ventures
Before her husband's passing, Angela Bacares was a significant shareholder in Darktrace, a cybersecurity company he co-founded. As The Standard reported in February, she once held the majority stake in the organisation.
According to Fortune, Bacares and her husband owned approximately seven percent of Darktrace, though this ownership stake had decreased to around three percent by mid-August. Despite the tragic loss of the UK tech entrepreneur, plans to sell Darktrace to the Thoma Bravo equity firm are anticipated to proceed as scheduled in late 2024.
Based on the Standard Tech Rich List, Bacares's estimated wealth is £190.9 million, with a year-to-date (YTD) increase of 2.90 percent. As of February 16, 2024, she held the 45th position on the list.
Family Life And Loss
British media reports that Lynch and Bacares had two children together. Tragically, their daughter Hannah lost her life in the boating incident. Their other daughter, Esme, who is 21 years old, recently shared a statement expressing her grief over the sudden loss of her sibling.
"No matter what, she brought boundless love to me. She was endlessly caring, passionately mad, unintentionally hilarious and the most amazing, supportive and joyful sister and best friend to me," she said, per The Guardian.
As reported by Cambridgeshire Live, Lynch and Bacares resided at the magnificent Loudham Hall estate in Suffolk with their two children.
A Heartbroken Return
Approximately five weeks after the tragic incident off the Sicilian coast, friends of Bacares report that she continues to mourn deeply. Two weeks following the disaster, she returned to Loudham Hall, the 16th-century farmhouse in Suffolk where the family, who also maintain a London residence in Chelsea, primarily reside.
According to local residents, Bacares has been seen in the nearby village of Pettistree, using a wheelchair to aid her recovery from the deep lacerations on her feet sustained from the broken glass on the sinking yacht.
Andrew Kanter, a seasoned technology industry veteran and a long-standing friend of the family who attended the Lynches' wedding in 2001, has provided unwavering support to Angela and Esme during this difficult time.
He has expressed that they are handling the tragedy with remarkable resilience. "I still struggle that my friend and colleague, who I spoke with almost every day for a quarter century, is not on the other end of a phone or a text," he told MoS.
Simone Finn, a former Tory deputy chief of staff who has been acquainted with the Lynches for eight years, attributes Angela's resilience to her strong character during these challenging times. As a first-generation American of Colombian descent, Angela, a savvy businesswoman under her maiden name, Bacares, had consistently maintained a low profile throughout her husband's legal tribulations.
"Angela, like Mike, came from a working-class background, fought hard for what she had, and she's proud of that. They were so proud of the girls' successes, too. Esme's the scientist like her dad – he would tell anyone who'd listen: 'My daughter has gone to do physics at Imperial [College London].' And they were so thrilled about Hannah getting a place at Oxford," Baroness Finn said.
