BREAKING NEWS: Billionaire known as “British Bill Gates” Mike Lynch is missing alongside his 18-year-old daughter after his superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily sparking huge search effort

Lynch’s co-defendant in a US fraud trial Stephen Chamberlain died in the hospital after being hit by a car 2 days ago.

Chamberlain faced the same charges of fraud and conspiracy as his former boss for allegedly scheming to inflate a company’s value before it was sold.

Both the men were acquitted of all 15 charges by a jury in San Francisco in June.

Mike Lynch told of his ‘second life’ after finally winning a 13-year legal fight over the £8.3billion sale of his firm Autonomy to US company Hewlett-Packard.

Yet tragedy has now struck so soon after his moment of triumph, with the 59-year-old believed to be among the passengers trapped onboard his luxury yacht, the Bayesian, after it sank off the coast of Sicily this morning.

One passenger has already been reported dead.