Mike Lynch's American wife, Angela Bacares, “struggles with guilt for surviving” as the bodies of Mike and Hannah Lynch arrive in England on a private jet

Angela Bacares, the widow of tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, is grappling with grief and guilt as the bodies of her husband and daughter Hannah arrive in England following their tragic yachting accident. A month after the accident that killed seven people off the coast of Sicily, Bacares is also under pressure from a potential $4 billion lawsuit by Hewlett Packard (HPE) against Lynch's estate over fraud allegations.

The accident occurred just as Lynch, once dubbed the “British Bill Gates,” had been acquitted of fraud charges in the United States and was preparing to give a speech at a literary festival.

Chaos that led to the tragic event

British businessman Mike Lynch once expressed his disbelief after he was recently acquitted of fraud charges in the United States. He compared the unexpected verdict, which was initially given only a 0.5 percent chance of success, to “jumping through universes.”

“If this had gone in the wrong direction, that would have been the end of my life as I know it,” he said. In an alternate reality, the tech billionaire, often referred to as “the British Bill Gates,” would have attended the Cliveden Literary Festival in Berkshire with his wife Bacares and their two daughters Hannah, 18, and Esme, 21.

Lynch was scheduled to give a keynote speech about artificial intelligence and the future of technology at the Cliveden Literary Festival, an event he and Bacares have attended for years. They had also brought their daughter Hannah so she could hear talks from some of her favorite authors.

Instead of attending the literary festival, 57-year-old Angela Bacares Lynch finds herself faced with the devastating reality that her husband and younger daughter have tragically died.

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 hours of the morning.

To Angela's dismay, HPE has announced that it will not drop fraud charges against Mike Lynch and plans to seek up to $4 billion in damages from his estate. As The Guardian reports, HPE won a civil lawsuit against Lynch in 2022, accusing him and his former finance director Sushovan Hussain of fraud related to the 2011 acquisition of his software company Autonomy.

According to the Associated Press, Lynch's widow could potentially be held liable for the allegations.

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 in The Sun, she suffered injuries while climbing over broken glass to exit the boat.

Due to the cuts on her feet, she was confined to a wheelchair after her rescue. According to British media, Bacares always supported her husband at public events, although she remained reserved.

Angela Bacares' business venture

Before her husband's death, Angela Bacares was a major shareholder in Darktrace, a cybersecurity company he co-founded. As The Standard reported in February, she once owned a majority stake in the organization.

According to Fortune, Bacares and her husband owned about seven percent of Darktrace, although that stake had dropped to about three percent by mid-August. Despite the tragic loss of the British tech entrepreneur, plans to sell Darktrace to private equity firm Thoma Bravo are expected to go ahead as planned in late 2024.

According to the Standard Tech Rich List, Bacares' estimated wealth is £190.9 million, up 2.90 percent year-to-date. As of February 16, 2024, she was ranked 45th on the list.

Family life and loss

British media reports that Lynch and Bacares have two children together. Tragically, their daughter Hannah lost her life in the boating accident. Their other daughter, 21-year-old Esme, recently issued a statement expressing her sadness at the sudden loss of her sister.

“No matter what, she showed me boundless love. She was endlessly caring, passionately crazy, unintentionally funny and, to me, the most amazing, supportive and joyful sister and best friend,” she said, according to The Guardian.

As Cambridgeshire Live reported, Lynch and Bacares lived with their two children at the magnificent Loudham Hall estate in Suffolk.

A heartbreaking return

About five weeks after the tragic incident off the coast of Sicily, friends of Bacares say she is still in deep mourning. Two weeks after 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 live.

According to local residents, Bacares was seen in the nearby village of Pettistree, confined to a wheelchair to recover from deep cuts to her feet caused by broken glass from the sinking yacht.

Andrew Kanter, a seasoned technology industry veteran and longtime family friend who attended the Lynches' wedding in 2001, tirelessly supported Angela and Esme during this difficult time.

He has expressed that they are dealing with the tragedy with remarkable resilience. “It still bothers me that my friend and colleague, who I have spoken to almost every day for a quarter of a century, is not on the other end of the phone or texting me,” he told the MoS.

Simone Finn, a former Conservative deputy chief of staff who has known the Lynches for eight years, attributes Angela's resilience to her strong character during these difficult times. A first-generation American of Colombian descent, Angela, an accomplished businesswoman under her maiden name Bacares, had maintained a low profile throughout her husband's legal troubles.

“Angela, like Mike, came from a working-class background and fought hard for what she had and she is proud of that. They were so proud of the girls' achievements too. Esme is the scientist like her father – he would tell anyone who would listen, 'My daughter is now studying physics at Imperial College. [College London].' And they were so delighted that Hannah got a place at Oxford,” said Baroness Finn.