Infamous Treasure Hunter Is a Hedge Fund Exec

'Businessweek' spent 11 months finding 'the Originator'
By Gina Carey,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 2, 2023 5:30 AM CST
Infamous Treasure Hunter Is a Hedge Fund Exec
Bloomberg Businessweek revealed hedge fund exec Anthony Clake to be the anonymous investor behind the burgeoning business of underwater treasure hunting.   (Getty / atese)

While most of us handed in our treasure maps sometime during childhood, finding lost bounties at sea has become something between a hobby and an investment for a mysterious shipwreck hunter connected to major finds. Through ironclad NDAs and business maneuvering, he's evaded recognition despite devoting significant time and money to his ventures, and is known only as an anonymous London financier or by the monicker "the Originator." Until now. Businessweek investigated his dealings over 11 months through exhaustive channels—ranging from his past employees to legal documents to satellite ship location data—and is now revealing him to be a 43-year-old British hedge fund executive who prefers keeping his feet on terra firma.

They write that Anthony Clake got his start in treasure hunting through the sticky business of tax write-offs. His employer, hedge fund Marshall Wace, worked with a shipwreck company to help wealthy clients relieve tax burdens. They eventually cut ties but continued to operate expeditions through various small companies often tied to Clake. He innovated ways to explore the ocean floor through new technologies and used data to track down sunken ships—boasting incredible finds like a 300-year-old Spanish galleon, ships sunk during the two world wars, and even Ernest Shackleton's HMS Endurance under Antarctic ice. But his devotion to obtaining the shiniest toys to locate billions worth of treasure underwater is seen as plunder to some, in what Businessweek calls the "underwater gold rush." Read the full story here. (More treasure stories).

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