A former OceanGate passenger-turned-investor defended Stockton Rush, saying the CEO was serious about safety and put his life on the line to prove it

• OceanGate's Stockton Rush was serious about safety and put his own life on the line, a former Titan passenger said.
• Aaron Newman, who later became an OceanGate investor, told Insider "safety was very important" to Rush. 
• Rush was "pushing the limits and trying different things and he paid the ultimate price," he said.

A former OceanGate passenger who later invested in the company defended Stockton Rush, saying the CEO was on the "cutting edge" and "liked to push the limits," but he was serious about safety and put his life on the line to prove it.

Retired software entrepreneur Aaron Newman — who said he became an investor in OceanGate after his successful August 2021 dive in the company's deep-sea Titan sub — told Insider that it's "disingenuous" of critics to say that the company and Rush didn't care about safety. 

"Safety was very important to [Rush]," Newman said, adding, "Safety was the biggest concern."

Ever since the Titan sub went missing last month while on an expedition to the Titanic and was ultimately determined to have imploded, killing Rush and all four others on board, reports emerged that industry experts had flagged warnings and safety concerns about the vessel and its carbon fiber-based hull. 

The 21-foot tourist vessel, which was designed to be steered using a video game controller, also wasn't classed to see if it was up to industry standards, despite calls from experts to do so. 

In an interview two years ago, Rush even acknowledged that knew he had "broken some rules" by making the Titan sub out of carbon fiber.

Newman said Rush "tried something new and unfortunately it bit him," but Newman still defended the OceanGate founder, calling him a "hero" innovator and "visionary" whose passion was to create accessibility to the depths of the ocean floor. 

"Stockton was always the first one in the sub," said Newman, explaining that Rush himself had piloted the dives aboard the Titan the majority of the time and "understood the safety concerns."

"But he was there along with it. He wasn't sending other people out to do it and it was his passion," Newman said. "He loved to be in it. He loved to be on the cutting edge."

Rush was "pushing the limits and trying different things and he paid the ultimate price," said Newman. 

Newman said that his $250,000 dive on the sub down to the Titanic in the depths of the North Atlantic 12,500 feet below the ocean's surface "certainly went fairly smooth" with Rush at the helm. 

The retired Florida businessman and explorer called it "surreal" to set eyes on the famed shipwreck. 

"The trip down is just relaxing and talking and experiencing and listening to music and just kind of enjoying the ride down," said Newman, noting that once the sub reached the ocean floor, "It's like landing on a different planet."

Rush "was always doing everything as safely as possible" and if something were to go wrong he was ready to "pull the cord" on the mission and go back up to the surface, said Newman. 

Newman told Insider that he invested a "small amount" of cash in OceanGate after his dive because he believed in Rush, but knew he would "never get a dime back from doing this."

"This company was not making cash. This was definitely a money hole for anyone that was involved," said Newman who added that Rush poured "so much of his own personal money" into the company. 

While pushing back on critics of Rush and his submersible, Newman said, "It's very easy to armchair quarterback the day after."

"I just think people love to throw stones, especially at a guy who can't defend himself."