"Mousetrap For Billionaires": OceanGate CEO Planned To Die In Titan Implosion, Friend Makes Shocking Claims

OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush wanted to die at the Titanic wreck and become part of its history, according to his long-time friend Karl Stanley, who has accused him of deliberately putting the lives of wealthy tourists at risk during the doomed Titan submersible expedition in 2023. Stanley, an expert in commercial submersibles, alleged that Rush may have designed the vessel with the intention of dying during a dive to the Titanic wreck, nearly 12,500 feet below the ocean surface, the New York Post reported. He described the submersible as a "mousetrap for billionaires", referring to the tourists who paid as much as $250,000 for the experience.

"He was in fact a good engineer, and that machine did exactly what he designed it to do … He set a new standard for going out with a bang," Stanley told author Matthew Gavin Frank for his new book, 'Submersed: Wonder, Obsession and Murder in the World of Amateur Submarine'.

"Rush's ego was so big he was willing to die and kill to be the pivotal character of this story. He wanted to go [die] at the wreck [of the Titanic]. The more high-profile, the better. He didn't just murder four wealthy people and get paid a cool mill to do it - they are allll part of the Titanic mythology now," he added. 

The catastrophic implosion of the Titan submersible in June 2023 killed all five people on board, including Rush himself. The victims were French underwater explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, known as Mr Titanic; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood.

Friend Recalls Concerns Over Titan

Stanley, who had known Rush for more than a decade, claimed that the OceanGate CEO was obsessed with the Titanic and wanted to secure his place in history through the expedition. "Rush needed to compel more than just his own death, and he needed to knowingly fabricate a ‘futile' vessel, costumed in a titanic name, as his murder weapon," Frank wrote in his new book.

He also pointed to the name of the Titan submersible, which he said was inspired by the fictional ship in Morgan Robertson's 1898 novel Futility. In the book, a massive ocean liner sinks after hitting an iceberg, a storyline that bears striking similarities to the Titanic disaster in 1912.

Stanley had accompanied Rush on a test dive in 2019. He recalled hearing loud cracking noises during the expedition but said his concerns were brushed aside by Rush.

Despite the experience, Stanley said he did not regret joining Rush on the dive to the Titanic wreck.

OceanGate Staff Under Scrutiny

Stanley also suggested that the narrative portraying Rush as a reckless figure who manipulated those around him could be convenient for people who worked at OceanGate. He said the company's employees were terrified in the aftermath of the Titan disaster but argued that depicting Rush as a madman who misled his colleagues was the most convenient explanation for them.

However, Stanley's allegations about Rush's intentions remain claims made by his long-time friend. They do not establish that the OceanGate CEO deliberately caused the deaths of the five people aboard the submersible.