Reaching the Five Deeps with Victor Vescovo

Join us for an extraordinary evening with Victor Vescovo, a modern-day explorer who has pushed the boundaries of human achievement. As the first person to descend to the deepest point in each of the world’s five oceans, Victor’s expeditions have not only expanded our understanding of the planet but also inspired a new generation of explorers and innovators. Victor will discuss the genesis of the Five Deeps Expedition, as well as the five-year effort to make it happen. He will also share his remarkable experiences as a naval intelligence officer, pilot, and adventurer in both polar regions and high-altitude mountains.

Victor’s current focus is on mapping the ocean floor. He envisions a future where satellites can chart coastal areas, while a highly efficient vessel, designed under his guidance, will unlock the secrets of the deep ocean. His long-term goal is even more ambitious: to create a submersible capable of regular visits to Challenger Deep, the deepest point on Earth. This “fourth-generation” submersible will surpass its predecessors in capability and reliability, opening up new frontiers for exploration and research. Victor’s journey is a testament to the boundless possibilities of human ingenuity and the enduring spirit of exploration.

Beyond his passion for exploration, Victor is a shrewd investor, involved in high-risk, high-reward ventures. He backs groundbreaking startups that seek to revive extinct species, mine asteroids, revolutionize shipbuilding, and develop innovative cures for previously incurable diseases. His interests are as diverse as they are audacious.

Victor L. Vescovo is a private investor with over thirty years of experience in a variety of complex business situations. He co-founded private equity firm Insight Equity in 2002 with his business partner, Ted Beneski and raised over $1.5 billion in equity capital across four funds investing primarily in industrial, asset-intensive industries. Victor’s primary investment focus while at Insight Equity were in the defense, aerospace, and electronics industries with a specific emphasis on executing operational improvements at the investments as Insight’s Chief Operating Officer. In 2023, he departed Insight in order to focus on his own investments with new capabilities to support industrial startups, life sciences, and other areas of venture capital and special situations.

Victor received his bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, a Master’s Degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and received an MBA from Harvard Business School where he graduated as a Baker Scholar. Additionally, Victor served 20 years in the U.S. Navy Reserve as an intelligence and targeting officer, retiring in 2013 as a Commander.

In 2017, Victor completed the “Explorer’s Grand Slam” which requires climbing the highest peak on all seven of the world’s continents including Mt. Everest and skiing at least 100 kilometers to the North and South Poles. He piloted the first repeated dives to the ocean’s deepest point, Challenger Deep, in the Pacific’s Mariana Trench — now fifteen times, and in August 2019 became the first person to visit “The Five Deeps,” the deepest point in all five of the world’s oceans. Victor has now personally explored the bottom of seventeen deep ocean trenches and has made three dives to the Titanic including the only solo dive ever made there. He and his team also discovered and surveyed the two deepest shipwrecks in the world: the USS Johnston in 2021 and the deepest, the USS Samuel B. Roberts at 22,600 feet, in 2022. In 2025, the US Navy announced that T-AGOS 26, a new ocean surveillance vessel of the Explorer class, would be named after him.

He is also a commercially rated, multi-engine jet, seaplane, and helicopter pilot, a certified submersible test pilot, and recently flew into space on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket, becoming the first person in history to climb Mount Everest, dive to the bottom of the ocean, and visit space.

This program was organized by Phoebe Piper #1244.