
One reason so many are quitting: We want control over our lives again
The pandemic, and the challenges of balancing life and work during it, have stripped us of agency. Resigning is one way of regaining a sense…
Thought Leader: Amy Cuddy
Victor 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. 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, glider, 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.
Victor Vescovo is a record-breaking explorer, investor, and retired naval officer who has reached places no human has ever gone before. As the first person to explore the deepest points of all five oceans, he offers a rare glimpse into the limits of human innovation and endurance. In his captivating presentations, Victor takes audiences on an extraordinary journey beneath the waves, sharing stunning footage from his expeditions and insights on leadership, risk-taking, and discovery. Perfect for organizations seeking inspiration at the intersection of exploration, technology, and perseverance. To bring Victor to your next event, contact us today.
One reason so many are quitting: We want control over our lives again
The pandemic, and the challenges of balancing life and work during it, have stripped us of agency. Resigning is one way of regaining a sense…
Thought Leader: Amy Cuddy
Molly Fletcher: Can drive offset your burnout at work?
This piece is by Molly Fletcher. People assume that drive depletes energy. They believe that level of intensity, focus and daily effort leads to burnout.…
Thought Leader: Molly Fletcher
Paul Nicklen: A Reverence for Nature
Standing in front of any of Canadian photographer Paul Nicklen’s large-scale images in the current exhibition at Hilton Contemporary, one cannot help but be totally…
Thought Leader: Paul Nicklen