Kriti Mehrotra
Richard Stockton Rush III (or just Stockton Rush) was a visionary who hailed from an incredibly affluent and wealthy family. He managed to make some incredible connections with the top people from various industries. That, coupled with his hard work and deep passion for the sea, ultimately resulted in him being able to finance his dreams of deep-sea exploration. Little did he know his confidence as well as passion would come to a head on June 18, 2023, as his Titan submersible imploded at a depth of about 3,500 meters while he and four others were inside.
How Did Stockton Rush Make His Money?
Stockton Rush was born on March 31, 1962, in San Francisco, California, as the youngest of five to local homemaker Ellen Davies and engineer/entrepreneur Richard Stockton Rush Jr. What’s more intriguing to note is that, through his father, he was a descendant of two signers of the Declaration of Independence – jurist Richard Stockton and physician Benjamin Rush. It comes as no surprise that it offered him a boost in his attempt to pursue his adventurous and exploratory ambitions successfully. Stockton was just a young boy when he developed a passion for space.
Stockton initially just wanted to be an astronaut so as to be the first person to step on Mars and build a home there. However, this gradually transformed into him becoming interested in aviation and aquatics, too, driving him to learn scuba diving at age 12 and get certified as a commercial pilot at age 18. He later looked into joining the force as a military pilot but was told that his visual acuity made him ineligible even to be considered an aviator, so he went on to pursue further studies. It was in 1980 that Stockton graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy with an admission letter from Princeton University already in hand, where he studied Aerospace Engineering.
Stockton earned his Bachelor’s in 1984, after which he kicked off his career as a Flight-Test Engineer for the F-15 Program at McDonnell Douglas before deciding to switch gears. He enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley for a Master of Business Administration (MBA), which he received in 1989. He then delved into venture capitalism. Stockton was a financier at Peregrine Partners in San Francisco for a short while, but he soon relocated to the Pacific Northwest to manage a company called Remote Control Technology. It was through this organization, his experimental streak, and his interest in the vast, largely unexplored ocean that he began thinking of deep-sea exploration as a possible opportunity.
This idea only solidified for him in 2006 when he went on an excursion in British Columbia, following which he began looking into possibly purchasing a submersible for himself. Stockton quickly realized that since there were fewer than 100 privately owned submarines across the world, he would have to make one from scratch, which he did using public blueprints. That’s when he decided to launch a submersible company focused on offering expeditions to different sites deep in the ocean to further promote, observe, and examine the unknown waters. It was in 2009 that he founded OceanGate alongside business partner Guillermo Söhnlein, with his wife of 23 years, Macy’s heiress Wendy Weil, also soon joining the endeavor.
Stockton Rush’s Earnings and Net Worth
Considering the fact that Stockton Rush’s OceanGate had three submersibles by the time 2020 rolled around – Antipodes, Cyclops 1, and Titan – it’s safe to say the company was really thriving. Each vessel served a unique purpose, but Titan, the first submersible with a carbon fiber hull, received the most attention due to its intended mission: deep-sea expeditions to the wreck of the Titanic. Explorers reportedly paid $250,000 per seat for these dives, with a replacement offered in the event of a failed mission.
The earlier submersibles, Antipodes and Cyclops 1, facilitated expeditions to other significant sites such as the Andrea Doria shipwreck, charging between $50,000 and $100,000 per seat. Each submersible typically held five people, including the pilot—often Rush himself. Although fewer than 200 dives were completed by 2023, OceanGate reportedly generated millions of dollars in revenue over the years.
Given that co-founder Guillermo Söhnlein exited in 2013, Rush held a controlling stake in the company and served as its CEO during its peak. With OceanGate reportedly valued at over $60 million before the Titan tragedy, Rush’s equity position represented a significant portion of his personal wealth, even if much of it was not liquid.
Additionally, his previous roles—managing Remote Control Technology, working as a venture capitalist, and serving as an engineer—likely brought in steady earnings, estimated around $70,000 annually during those years. His spending habits reflected his passions: scuba diving, piloting his own experimental aircraft, and global travel as a married father of two.
Taking into account his career earnings, business equity, family connections, and personal assets—alongside potential liabilities and operational costs—Stockton Rush’s net worth is estimated to have been around $20 million at the time of his death in 2023.
Read More: Tony Nissen: Where is OceanGate’s Ex-Director of Engineering Now?
