Who is Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate missing on Titanic sub?

Stockton Rush, the founder of OceanGate Expeditions, who is currently missing onboard his company’s Titan submersible, alongside Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, is a descendant of US Founding Fathers Benjamin Rush and Richard Stockton. His full name is Richard Stockton Rush 111.

According to OceanGate’s website, “Rush oversees OceanGate’s financial and engineering strategies and provides a clear vision for development of 4,000 m (13,123 feet) and 6,000 me (19,865 feet) capable crewed submersibles and their partner launch and recovery platforms which make OceanGate Inc the leading provider of crewed submersibles for charter and scientific research.”

When it comes to Stockton Rush’s background, at the age of 19, he became the youngest jet transport rated pilot, reportedly in the world. When he served as a DC-8 first officer during his summers at college, he flew to the likes of London, Khartoum, Bombay and Zurich. Stockton has a BSE in Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University that he obtained in 1984, and also has an MBA from the U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business.

OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush spoke to Sky News back in February about visiting the Titanic wreck and said the following: “What really strikes you is how beautiful it is. You don’t normally see that on a shipwreck. It is an amazingly beautiful wreck.”

Sky News reported that “When asked if they can go inside the wreckage, Mr Rush said: “You can see inside, we dipped down and saw the grand staircase and saw some of the chandeliers still hanging.

“Next year we are hoping to send a small robot inside but for now we stay on the outside.”

When news broke that the Titan sub had gone missing, it was reported that U.S. President Joe Biden was 'watching events closely.'