Mike Lynch and Jonathan Bloomer are among the five people confirmed dead after the Bayesian yacht sank on 19 August in a storm off the coast of Sicily. Lynch’s daughter Hannah remains unaccounted for.
Hiscox Group, where Bloomer (pictured below) was chairman, posted a tribute: "We are all profoundly saddened by the death of our Chair, Jonathan Bloomer, alongside his wife Judy, in the tragic sinking of the Bayesian off the coast of Sicily earlier this week. Jonathan was a well-liked and highly-valued colleague, and he was also a friend. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones at this difficult time."
Aki Hussain, Hiscox Group CEO said: “It was a privilege to have known Jonathan and to have benefitted from his generosity and wisdom over the last year. His deep experience across our industry and in the broader business arena, combined with his personal values, made him both an excellent Chair and a person I was proud to know and work with. His advice and support were immensely valuable to me, and he will be dearly missed.”
Morgan Stanley chief executive Ted Pick said: “Jonathan’s leadership and experience helped the firm manage a period of complex change for our international businesses.
“He has been a friend and mentor to many and we will all greatly miss his wise counsel and spirit of kindness.”
M&G posted the following message on LinkedIn: "We are deeply saddened by the tragic events that have occurred in Sicily, particularly hearing the news that Jonathan Bloomer – the former Group CEO of Prudential plc – has died along with his wife Judy and several other people who were aboard the yacht that was reported missing earlier this week.
"Jonathan was known to many colleagues here at M&G, having been part of Prudential’s Executive team for ten years, serving as both CEO, and before that as Chief Financial Officer. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of all those affected."
Among many other tributes from around the world from people who had varying degrees of contact with Bloomer, David Worsfold, director at Worsfold Media, said on LinkedIn on 22 August:
"I have just recorded a short interview for Sky News about Mike Lynch and Jonathan Bloomer because someone told them I had met both of them in my career as a journalist, as well as having the Bancroft's School connection (Mike and I both went there, albeit not at the same time).
"It must be well over ten years since I last saw Mike and nearer 20 years since I last saw Jonathan but Sky are obviously going big on the story so the double connection was one they were keen on.
"I hope I did Mike justice because he was genuinely nice guy. For those of you who were in his year group and who knew him I apologise for "borrowing" some of the things I have heard said about his love of mathematics but Sky were keen to make that connection having worked out the link between the name of the yacht and Bayes' Theorem.
"Jonathan was the boss at the Prudential through a very difficult period as it struggled to leave behind the "Man from the Pru". I always thought he got unfairly blamed for some of the poor decisions he inherited, although a few of his own ideas didn't work out as planned. On the couple of occasions I interviewed him and saw him in action at press conferences, he was always courteous, well-prepared and never dismissive of any of our questions."
Bloomer has been the chairman of Morgan Stanley International since 2018, and last year was also made chairman of the Hiscox international insurance group.
He began his career at the now-defunct American accounting firm Arthur Andersen, working there for 20 years from 1974 to 1994.
He then spent the next ten years at Prudential, based in the UK, eventually becoming group CEO until 2005.
Bloomer has held several other roles since 2005, and alongside his chairman roles at Morgan Stanley and Hiscox, also chairs sportswear company SDL Group Holdings.
Bloomer was chair of Autonomy’s audit committee from September 2010 until its sale in October 2011.
