Stockton Rush, the chief govt of OceanGate Expeditions and one of many 5 occupants of the submersible lacking this week within the North Atlantic, has advocated for deep-seas tourism within the face of criticism.

His firm proceeded with its excursions regardless of the “unanimous concern” expressed by three dozen industry leaders in 2018. In an interview last year, he informed The New York Times that high-resolution footage gathered on the Titanic excursions may gain advantage researchers.

“No public entity is going to fund going back to the Titanic,” Mr. Rush mentioned. “There are other sites that are newer and probably of greater scientific value.”

In the interview, he defended the worth tag — seats within the Titan price as much as $250,000.

“For those who think it’s expensive, it’s a fraction of the cost of going to space, and it’s very expensive for us to get these ships and go out there,” mentioned Mr. Rush, who based OceanGate in 2009. “And the folks who don’t like anybody making money sort of miss the fact that that’s the only way anything gets done in this world.”

By some accounts, Mr. Rush has been a charismatic booster of submersible journeys. Mike Reiss, a author and producer of “The Simpsons,” who took a visit in a distinct OceanGate submersible that was piloted by Mr. Rush, in contrast him on Tuesday to Henry Ford and the Wright brothers, describing him as “a magnetic man” who’s “the last of the great American dreamers.”

Craig Howard, a longtime pal of Mr. Rush’s, mentioned on Tuesday that simply earlier than he left Newfoundland for the Titanic web site, Mr. Rush informed him he was excited for this yr’s dives.

“And there was always a ‘next dive,’” he mentioned.

Mr. Rush is a descendant of two signers of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Rush and Richard Stockton. He graduated from Princeton with a level in aerospace engineering in 1984, in accordance with his firm biography. In 1989, he personally constructed an experimental plane that he continues to fly, the corporate mentioned.

In a segment on “CBS Sunday Morning” that aired in November 2022, Mr. Rush informed the interviewer, David Pogue, that he grew up desirous to be an astronaut and, after he earned his diploma, a fighter pilot.

“I had this epiphany that I didn’t want — it wasn’t about going to space,” Mr. Rush mentioned. “It was about exploring. It was about finding new life forms. I wanted to be sort of the Captain Kirk. I didn’t want to be the passenger in the back. And I realized that the ocean is the universe.”

Anushka Patil and Emma Bubola contributed reporting.