Strange Twist Related to CEO Missing in Yacht Sinking

The timing is equal parts tragic and bizarre. As of Tuesday morning, British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch remains missing after the superyacht he was on sank off the coast of Italy. Just two days before the vessel sank, Lynch's former business partner—and fraud co-defendant—was fatally struck by a car while out jogging in Cambridgeshire in the UK, reports the BBC. Stephen Chamberlain, 52, was initially placed on life support, and police confirmed on Tuesday that he had since died, per Reuters. Police say the driver is a 49-year-old woman who is cooperating with the investigation, and no charges have been filed so far.

Chamberlain served as vice president to CEO Lynch at their former UK tech company, Autonomy. The two men had been charged with fraud related to the company's $11 billion sale to Hewlett-Packard in 2011, and both were acquitted of all charges at a trial in the US in June, notes CNN. Prosecutors had alleged that the men duped HP into overpaying, and a civil case was still pending in the UK, per the AP. More recently, Chamberlain worked as chief operating officer for the cyber security firm Darktrace.

"He was a courageous man with unparalleled integrity, and we deeply miss him," says Chamberlain attorney Gary Lincenberg, per the Guardian. "He fought successfully to clear his good name, which lives on through his wonderful family." (More superyachts stories.)