Exploring the Depths of a Passion for Building a Business
Overview
After pursuing a career in the skies - at 19, he was the youngest licensed jet transport pilot - and as a tech investor, Stockton Rush turned his curiosity and passion for exploration into OceanGate, a company that builds deep ocean submersibles and offers researchers and citizens alike a chance to take an expedition of a lifetime. We heard his pioneering story about innovation, design, and a desire to push boundaries in exploration of some of the world's deepest ocean sites.
Insights and Key Takeaways
Stockton Rush founded and leads OceanGate, as CEO of the company dedicated to opening the oceans for human observations and exploration through the development of state-of-the-art five person submersibles.
With his family’s wealth behind him, Rush had the capacity to “meander” his way through various jobs and experiences that eventually led him to the ocean. The family funds originally came from his Grandfather, who Rush describes as a “dirt poor Irish immigrant,” who by age 33 became the youngest director of Standard Oil in America.
Rush graduated early from high school, convinced his mom to buy him an airplane, got his commercial pilot license pilot, and completed jet training at United Airlines, becoming the youngest jet pilot known still today. Turns out his eyesight was not quite good enough for aerospace or the military, and he realized he was not likely going to space.