2024-08-24
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Tencent Technology News, August 24, according to foreign media reports, British technology tycoon Mike Lynch was recently acquitted after more than a decade of judicial twists and turns in the United States. To celebrate his new life of freedom, he invited his relatives and friends to celebrate on a luxury super yacht to the Mediterranean. However, the yacht was sunk by a tornado and Lynch was unfortunately killed. What is even more regrettable is that a few days before this tragedy, a former colleague who was also deeply involved in the case died in a car accident while running in a foreign country nearly 3,000 kilometers away.
These two accidents, which were far apart but closely related, happened in quick succession, quickly stirring up waves on the Internet, and various conspiracy theories emerged one after another. People can't help but ask: Is there some unknown connection behind this? Is it a coincidence? Or is there something else going on? Before the truth is fully revealed, everything seems so confusing.
As the Bayesian slowly approached the quiet fishing village on the north coast of Sicily, the setting sun gently cast on the sparkling Mediterranean Sea. On the teak deck of this more than 50-meter-long superyacht, Lynch was enjoying his "new life" with his family, friends and lawyers who helped him get released, celebrating his not guilty verdict won in a California court.
Lynch, a software tycoon known as the "Britain's Bill Gates," gathered with his wife, daughter, and elite legal and banking professionals from New York and London, as well as those who had been deeply involved in hisU.S. Department of JusticePartners who helped when a massive accounting fraud was alleged. They traveled across the blue of the Mediterranean and left their footprints in Positano and Palermo.
Lynch proudly announced that such celebrations at sea would become the norm, and he promised his close friend and lawyer Brian Heberlig that even if he missed the gathering this summer due to schedule conflicts, he would definitely meet them again at this time next year.
However, the joyous atmosphere was overshadowed by the sudden sad news on Sunday. On that day, Stephen Chamberlain, another protagonist of the "Lynch fraud case", also regained his innocence after many twists and turns, but unfortunately died in a car accident while running at home. This news made everyone on the yacht immersed in grief. Former US prosecutor Chris Morvillo immediately informed Hubley and other lawyers of the news via email.
The Bayes anchored in a wide bay near the Porticello harbor wall. In the night, the lights on the aluminum mast were dazzling. It was once the tallest mast in the world, but now it isAmazonFounder Jeff Bezos' yacht Beyond.
Not far away, the Dutch-flagged Sir Robert Baden Powell is moored next door. Local fishermen say it’s a rare opportunity for luxury yachts to stay here, as it offers less shelter than the sheltered Cape Zafferano or Palermo Harbour.
At the same time, relevant agencies also issued a storm warning that day. More than 30 fishing boats in Porticello seemed a bit old. Faced with the warning, the fishermen wisely chose to stay in the port, all fishing boats close to the port wall, waiting for the storm to pass. At 4 a.m., the storm suddenly arrived. The fishermen said: "Although it only lasted for a short 15 minutes, the sea surface instantly turned into a violent purgatory, and then quickly returned to tranquility, as if nothing had happened."
However, when the rainstorm subsided and the morning light came out, the Bayes had disappeared.
Early Monday morning, Hubley unexpectedly received a call from an unfamiliar British caller. He mistakenly thought it was from Movillo calling to express his condolences for Chamberlain, but he did not expect it to be a report of another disaster - Movillo, Lynch and several other members of the yacht had met with misfortune.
Since that day, Italian authorities have launched an investigation focused on why the Bayes sank so quickly from the port. They are trying to recover the truth by interviewing survivors, reviewing video footage, and using underwater drone technology to analyze the wreckage in depth. Prosecutors are also exploring whether there are any criminal suspects, such as manslaughter or negligence that led to the sinking, but no cases have been opened against any individuals.
The salvage work lasted five days, and the divers carried out a total of 123 dives, searching for the remains of the victims where the Bayes lay on its side deep in the seabed of Sicily. Nearly 50 meters underwater, they found that the narrow passage was blocked by furniture, cables and various debris, making the search and rescue work extremely difficult.
On Thursday, Lynch's body was placed in a blue body bag and slowly transported to the port. At the same time, the bodies of five passengers were also found on the yacht, including Movillo, his wife, jewelry designer Neda, Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, and Lynch's 18-year-old daughter Hannah. Chef Recaldo Thomas died in the sea shortly after the boat sank.
Fortunately, Lynch's wife Angela Bacares and five other passengers and nine of the 10 crew members survived. Near the port wall, many media and curious people watched as the Coast Guard boat slowly passed by carrying the bodies of the victims. Investigators interviewed the surviving crew members and passengers at a nearby resort to find out the truth of the accident.
Local fishermen expressed confusion and regret over the accidental sinking of the luxury yacht Bayes in a short and fierce storm. Italian authorities have quarantined the surviving crew members to prevent outside interference in the investigation, so their direct comments are currently unavailable. As for Lynch, Bloomer and the Movillo family, they have chosen to remain silent for now.
The Mediterranean Sea is famous for its beautiful scenery, but also for its hidden dangers. Since the beginning of the Age of Navigation, sudden storms have frequently swallowed up ships. In recent years, the Mediterranean Sea has become a place of sorrow for countless immigrants from poor and war-torn countries, and many people have unfortunately drowned during the difficult journey across the Mediterranean Sea.
There is a disagreement among maritime engineers about the tragedy of the Bayes: some believe that its over 70-meter aluminum mast may be the culprit, while the yacht's Italian manufacturer strongly refutes this, blaming the crew's operational error that led to water ingress and capsizing.
The $35 million yacht sank so quickly in the storm that even experienced maritime investigation expert Gavin Pritchard was puzzled.He admitted: "In my career, I have never witnessed such a rapid and unusual sinking."
Lynch embraced his tearful wife as a jury acquitted him of fraud and conspiracy charges in a San Francisco courtroom a few weeks ago, while his legal team, led by Moraviro and some of whom had defended him for years, were beside him.
Earlier, the British business magnate had faced the heavy shadow of spending the rest of his life in a US prison. Last year, Lynch was shackled and flown from London to California to stand trial. The reason was that he was accused of deliberately exaggerating the value of the company when he sold the software giant Autonomy he founded to HP for more than $11 billion in 2011. He later recalled: "The hope of being acquitted is slim, and I almost need to say goodbye to everything."
This ruling is undoubtedly a major turning point in Lynch's career. As a leader in the British technology industry, Lynch came from a humble background, but started his entrepreneurial journey with a second-hand computer in London, relying on a doctorate in mathematical computing from Cambridge University and integrating the theoretical essence of 18th-century statistician Thomas Bayes.
In 1996, Autonomy was spun off from Cambridge Neurodynamics and quickly became a market favorite as an early pioneer in data search using machine learning technology. Its software solutions based on Bayesian theory widely serve customers such as banks and intelligence agencies to help process massive amounts of data.
Lynch promoted a hard-nosed sales culture, with a piranha tank in his office, conference rooms named after James Bond movies and a vintage Aston Martin, one of Bond's favorite cars.
HP's acquisition of Autonomy brought Lynch a huge profit of about $800 million. He chose to stay on and invest part of it in his British farm, focusing on breeding rare breeds of cattle and pigs.
In 2014, Lynch's wife, Baccarat's company, bought the ill-fated yacht and renamed it "Bayes" in honor of statistician Bayes. The yacht was built six years ago by the famous Tuscan manufacturer Perini Navi.
Lynch was fired in 2012 after HP accused him of falsifying Autonomy's accounts, which he denied.
Movillo, 59, is a senior partner at Clifford Chance in New York and the defense attorney in Lynch's case. In his early years, he was a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York and led the trial of cases related to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and money laundering. The Lynch case occupied an important chapter of his career, and the two men established a deep friendship because of it.
Lynch and Movillo were convinced that HP's mistakes in integrating Autonomy were the root cause of subsequent problems and tried to blame Lynch for the broader corporate setbacks. Lynch stressed that Autonomy's accounting was in full compliance with industry standards and no different from other software companies.
In 2018, the US government charged Lynch and his team with using false and misleading documents to make Autonomy more attractive to potential buyers. In May 2023, after an unsuccessful fight against extradition to the United States, Lynch said goodbye to his six dogs, wife and two daughters at home, and was taken to Heathrow Airport by police car from his apartment in West London.
For the next year, he was under house arrest in a San Francisco townhouse, wearing an electronic monitor on his ankle, with CCTV cameras all over his house, and armed guards by retired Navy SEALs 24/7. His family paid a whopping $100 million in bail and bought him a collie to keep him company.
Lynch's lawyers, who are standing trial alongside Chamberlain, the former financial chief, during a three-month intensive review of a mountain of documents -- about 16 million -- have argued that he acted in good faith and was not an expert in arcane accounting matters.
Lynch's defense team also relied on a key witness, Bloomer, a City of London bigwig, chairman of Morgan Stanley International and former chairman of Autonomy's audit committee.
The final verdict was announced, and the jury unanimously ruled that all 15 charges against Lynch and Chamberlain were not established. For Lynch, who had experienced extradition and faced the threat of 25 years in prison in the United States, this verdict was like a rebirth. He said in an interview: "I had to say goodbye to everything because I didn't know if I could come back. It felt strange and heavy, but now I have a second life. Next, how to cherish and make good use of this gift is a problem I must face."
The continued rise in sea temperatures in the Mediterranean has increased the frequency of "waterspouts" - short-lived but powerful sea tornadoes formed by the combination of air and water, which are enough to overturn or even destroy ships at sea.
According to witnesses from Porticello residents, such tornadoes did hit the yacht, but in theory, the Bayes should have sufficient resistance. Local fishermen were puzzled: "As a fisherman who has been dealing with the sea for many years, I can't understand why a 56-meter-long ship would be so vulnerable, even if a waterspout passed directly over it? The biggest concern is that if the ship encounters a crosswind, seawater may flow into the cabin from the side, causing a disaster. The truth may only be known by the captain."
More than 600 waterspouts were recorded across Europe last year, according to the latest data from the European Severe Weather Database.
In response to this, Giovanni Constantino, CEO of the Italian Sea Group, the parent company of the Bayesian, stressed that yachts capsize and sink in storms usually when the hull tilts in strong winds and the doors or hatches are not closed in time. He reminded that in the face of storm warnings, the crew should have taken comprehensive measures, including closing all doors and properly accommodating passengers.
The CCTV on the shore recorded a thrilling scene: the mast of the Bayes was brightly lit, but it suddenly tilted sharply to the starboard side, and then a strong wind blew up, and the lights went out one by one. Constantino speculated that this might be a power outage caused by seawater backflow. The storm intensified, and the video screen eventually lost the trace of the Bayes.
Data from maritime information provider MarineTraffic revealed that during the storm, the Bayes and the neighboring Sir Robert Baden Powell both showed signs of drifting southeast, indicating that the anchor chain was unable to withstand the huge waves and slipped. The Dutch captain Karsten Börner responded by starting the engine and adjusting the stern to face the wind, successfully resisting the crisis of being pushed to one side by the strong wind.
When the storm abated, Borna looked around and found to his regret that the Bayes had disappeared. At this moment, the crew of the sinking yacht fired a red flare, and the nearby fishermen immediately drove their boats to rescue. Later, Borna found and rescued an orange inflatable life raft carrying 15 survivors of the Bayes. Unfortunately, seven people, including Lynch and his daughter, the Morvilles, the Bloomers and the cook, did not escape the disaster.
Two shocking fatal accidents occurred in quick succession - first a former colleague died in a car accident while jogging, and then Lynch himself died in a superyacht sinking accident. These two events, which were almost impossible to happen in a short period of time, quickly triggered widespread conspiracy theory speculation.
According to industry experts, it is very unlikely that a superyacht like the Bayes would sink while anchored. Stewart Campbell, editor-in-chief of International Speed Boating, said: "I have spoken to many people in the industry and they are as shocked as I am and they don't believe it can happen!"
The world of superyachts and billionaires is always a hotbed of speculation and conjecture. This case is even more confusing because of the series of incredible coincidences involved, as well as complex business interests, legal disputes with the Ministry of Justice and subtle connections with intelligence agencies.
In this context, the Internet space was quickly occupied by various conspiracy theories, ranging from disgruntled judicial officials to secretive corporate forces to speculation about espionage. Italy has even begun investigating whether the sinking of the ship was related to the porthole not being opened. A Reddit user said that this incident "challenges people's perception of reality."
One social media user said bluntly: "I am deeply shocked that Lynch met with misfortune just two months after being released after ten years of legal disputes... Even based on Bayesian probability theory, it is extremely ironic and almost impossible for such a giant yacht to be swallowed and sunk by a tornado."
Sander van der Linden, who specializes in the social psychology of conspiracy theories at the University of Cambridge, said the case was a prime example of how conspiracy thinking can thrive. “The human brain is wired to make connections, especially when faced with random coincidences, even if they seem incredibly unlikely,” he explained.
“Of course, the probability of attributing what happened to Lynch and Chamberlain to assassination by a secret society is extremely small, close to 0.001%, but this should not be the primary consideration. People should focus on explanations based on solid evidence, and such explanations often take more time,” van der Linden added.
Stripped of the amazing coincidence of the two incidents, the core facts of each accident point to a reasonable explanation that is not a conspiracy theory. The tornado encountered by the Bayes is more frequent in hot or humid climates, and the surface temperature in the Mediterranean last week has reached a record high. As for Chamberlain's tragedy, it occurred on a road in the village of Stream. The perpetrator was a 49-year-old female driver who has stayed at the scene to cooperate with the police investigation.
Professor van der Linden pointed out: "Humans instinctively resist the uncertainty of life. Faced with the unknown and impermanence, we often seek deterministic answers. However, reality is cruel. We cannot always grasp all the truths. The fragility and accidents of life may come at any time. The illusion of 'everything is under control' is obviously easier to be accepted by the public than the cruel reality of 'a storm is enough to sink a ship'." (Compiled by Jinlu)
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