Wife of Missing Submarine CEO Was Descendant of Titanic Victim

Great-granddaughter of New York's Largest Department Store Founder
Couple Who Inspired the Movie 'Titanic'

Is the tragedy of the Titanic sinking repeating itself? Stockton Rush, CEO of deep-sea tourism company OceanGate and pilot of the missing submarine Titan as of the 18th (local time), was revealed to be the descendant of a victim of the 1912 Titanic sinking.

According to the US media outlet The New York Times (NYT) on the 21st (local time), Stockton Rush's wife, Wendy Rush, is the great-granddaughter of Isidor and Ida Straus. The Straus couple were co-founders of Macy's, the largest department store in New York, and first-class passengers on the Titanic in 1912.

Isador Straus and Ida Straus couple [Image source=Leo Beck Institute]

The Titanic sank after colliding with an iceberg in the North Atlantic, resulting in 1,500 deaths. According to records obtained by the NYT, Ida Straus, the wife, refused to board lifeboats reserved only for women and children at the time.

Instead, she chose to face her final moments on the sinking ship alongside her husband Isidor, with whom she had spent over 40 years. This tragic love story is known to have inspired the storyline of James Cameron's 1997 film Titanic.

Weeks after the Titanic sank, Isidor's body was found, but Ida was never recovered.

Wendy Rush is the granddaughter of Minnie Straus, one of the Straus couple's daughters. Minnie married Dr. Richard Weil in 1905, continuing the family line. Wendy married CEO Rush in 1986.

Bold CEO Pursuing Titanic Tourism Business... "At Some Point, Risks Must Be Taken"

The wreckage of the Titanic sunk at a depth of 4000m. [Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, CEO Rush, who departed on the Titan to explore the sunken wreckage of the Titanic, is known to have personally designed the submarine.

An aerospace engineer, he revealed in a 2019 interview with a German broadcaster that he pursued the submarine business based on the idea that "there is demand from people who want to see the world's most famous shipwreck (the Titanic)."

Since 2010, Rush assembled a team to build the Titan, a small submarine capable of carrying a limited number of passengers, and founded OceanGate, the company operating it.

On the 16th, he embarked on his third voyage aboard the Titan with four other wealthy individuals. However, communication with the Titan was lost on the morning of the 18th in the Atlantic Ocean, and it remains missing to this day.

There are claims that CEO Rush's inadequate safety management was the cause of this accident. According to the NYT, in 2018, the Marine Technology Society (MTS) sent a warning letter to OceanGate's management stating that "(due to safety issues) catastrophic problems could occur with the submarine."

During an interview with a Canadian broadcaster last year, when asked about the risks, Rush claimed, "Underwater submarine exploration is not very dangerous," but also acknowledged, "OceanGate takes measures, but there are limits to these."

However, he emphasized, "If you want to be safe, you shouldn't get out of bed, shouldn't drive, and shouldn't do anything," adding, "At some point, you have to take risks, and this is a matter of risk and reward."