OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush wanted to join ‘Titanic mythology’ when Titan sub imploded, friend claims

OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush built the Titan submersible to implode on its dive to the Titanic wreck so he could become part of "Titanic mythology," a longtime friend claimed, saying it was a "mousetrap for billionaires."

Karl Stanley, a commercial submersible expert and longtime friend of Rush, made the claim in author Matthew Gavin Frank’s new book, "Submersed: Wonder, Obsession and Murder in the World of Amateur Submarines."

"[Rush’s] ego was so big," Stanley told Frank, "he was...