VESCOVO, Victor

Deepsea explorer extraordinaire; first person to descend to the deepest points of all five of the Earth’s oceans during the Five Deeps Expedition in 2018–2019; set the record for the deepest submersible dive and the deepest solo submersible dive (10,925 m / 35,843 ft | Challenger Deep) in 2019; first person to reach the deepest point of the Atlantic Ocean, the Brownson Deep (8,376 m / 27,480 ft | Puerto Rico Trench) in 2018; first person to reach the deepest point of the Southern Ocean (7,433.6 m/24,388 ft | South Sandwich Trench) in 2019; first person to reach the bottom of the Indian Ocean (7,192 m / 23,596 ft | Sunda Trench) in 2019; first person to reach the second deepest point on the planet, the Horizon Deep (10,823 m / 35,509 ft | Tonga Trench) in 2019; first person to reach the third deepest point on the planet, the Sirena Deep (10,714 m / 35,151 ft) | Mariana Trench) in 2019; first person to reach the deepest point in the Arctic Ocean (5,550 m / 18,210 ft | Molloy Deep) in 2019; reached the deepest point of the Mediterranean Sea (5,109 m /16,762 ft | Calypso Deep) in 2020, which was also the deepest dive by a head of state; made the first solo dive to the RMS Titanic in 2019; filmed the first 4K video of the RMS Titanic in 2019; completed the Explorers Grand Slam (Last Degree) by climbing the highest peak in all seven continents and skiing the Last Degree of Latitude at both the North and South Poles; holder of the world record for the greatest vertical distance without leaving Earth’s surface having climbed to the summit of Mt. Everest (8,848 m / 29,029 ft) in 2010 (highest point on Earth) and descended to the bottom of the Challenger Deep (10,925 m / 35,843 ft) in 2019 (lowest point on Earth), thus covering a total vertical distance of 19,773 m (64,872 ft); founder of Caladan Oceanic, a private company dedicated to the advancement of undersea technology and supporting expeditions to increase the understanding of the oceans; owner-operator of the DSV Limiting Factor submarine system (Triton 36000/2), the support ship DSSV Pressure Drop, and three ultra-deep-sea robotic landers; graduate of Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Harvard Business School; served as an intelligence officer with the U.S. Navy Reserve for 20 years before retiring as a Commander O-5 (NATO OF-4) in 2013; helicopter and jet pilot; private equity investor; co-founder and managing partner of private equity company Insight Equity Holdings.

“If you’re at the bottom of the ocean and something goes wrong you’re four hours from the surface. I’ve had systems go wrong at extreme depths and it’s my job to do what I have to do to get back up on top.” — Victor Vescovo