Robert Ballard Net Worth

June 2024 · 7 minute read

Robert Duane Ballard net worth is
$10 Million

Robert Duane Ballard Wiki Biography

Robert Duane Ballard was born on the 30th June 1942, in Wichita, Kansas USA, and is an underwater archaeologist, professor of oceanography and founder and director of the Institute for Archaeological Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island (URI), also serving in the US armed forces He became known mainly for locating the wrecks of the Titanic and Bismarck. Among others awards, he is the winner of American Geological Institute Award, Lindbergh Award, Hubbard Medal from the National Geographic Society.

How much is the net worth of Robert Ballard? It has been estimated by authoritative sources that the overall size of his net worth is as much as $10 million, as of the data presented in the middle of 2017, earned during his career in oceanography and archaeology which began in the mid-‘60s.

Robert Ballard Net Worth $10 Million

To begin with, Ballard is the son of Chester Patrick Ballard, who worked at North American Aviation as chief engineer of the Minuteman program, and his wife Harriet Nell. He became interested in the deep sea through books, movies and television films about the underwater world such as about “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and “Jacques Cousteau”. In 1965, Ballard graduated in chemistry and geology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, then from the University of Hawaii he graduated earning a Master of Science (MS) in geophysics in 1966. In 1974, he promoted a mapping work of the seabed of the Gulf of Maine in the geological oceanography department at the University of Rhode Island. Ballard belonged to the expedition team in 1977, which for the first time explored submarine hydrothermal sources, the so-called Black Smokers, near the Galapagos Islands with the research vessel Alvin. These sources have a temperature of about 400 ° C and emit a fountain of black, smoky water. A water sample yielded a pH of 2.8, which corresponds to the acidity of white wine.

Moreover, Ballard is known for locating numerous shipwrecks. On the 1st September 1985, together with Jean-Louis Michel, he found the wreck of the Titanic, which had sunk in 1912. He financed the search by first inspecting in a secret mission on behalf of the US Navy the remains of the sunken US nuclear submarines USS Scorpion and USS Thresher with a dive robot. He also discovered the German battleship Bismarck and the US American carrier USS Yorktown from the World War II. At the end of the 1980s Ballard found a Phoenician ship from the 7th century BC, one of the oldest wrecks ever found. In 1995, he dived again with the US Navy deep-diving boat NR-1 in the Mediterranean after wrecks on a trade route between Carthage and Rome. From 1999 until the end of 2000, Ballard and his team carried out a series of expeditions along the Turkish coast of the Black Sea, looking for remains of artefacts to prove the fact that the previous, inland coast of the Black Sea had already been populated by humans. In the west of Sinope, three old shipwrecks were discovered at a depth of 100 m. Wreck A and Wrck C were estimated to be from the late Roman Empire (2nd to 4th century AD), while Wreck B was attributed to the Late Byzantine Empire (5th to 7th century AD). At the end of 2000, Ballard found traces of an ancient settlement on the coastal shelf of the Black Sea.

Finally, in the personal life of Ballard, he was married to Marjorie Constance Jacobsen; they had two children before divorcing in 1990. At the beginning of 1991, he married the documentary producer Barbara Hanford Earle; they also have two children.


Full NameRobert Ballard
Net Worth$10 Million
Date Of BirthJune 30, 1942
Place Of BirthWichita, Kansas, United States
ProfessionProfessor, Film Producer, Film Director, Television Producer
EducationUniversity of Hawaii's Institute of Geophysics, University of California, Santa Barbara, US Army's ROTC program, University of Rhode Island
NationalityAmerican
SpouseBarbra Ballard (m. 1991), Marjorie Jacobsen (m. 1966–1990)
ChildrenEmily Ballard, Doug Ballard, Ben Ballard, Todd Ballard
ParentsHarriet Nell Ballard, Terry Ballard, Chet Ballard
SiblingsNancy Ballard, Richard Ballard
NicknamesDr Robert Ballard , Robert Duane Ballard , Dr. Robert Duane Ballard , Bob Ballard , Robert D. Ballard , Dr. Robert D. Ballard , Dr. Robert R. Ballard , Dr. Robert B. Ballard
IMDBwww.imdb.com/name/nm0050593
AwardsNational Humanities Medal (2003), American Geological Institute Award, Kilby International Awards (1994), Lindbergh Award, Hubbard Medal (National Geographic Society, 1996), Caird Medal (2002), Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award (1990), Ballard its Lone Sailor Award (U.S. Navy Memorial Fou...
MoviesThe Living Sea (TV movie 1995), Lost Ships of the Mediterranean (1997), Avalon: Beyond the Abyss (1999), Titanic: 90 Years Below (2002), Titanic: Death of a Dream (1994), Pearl Harbor: Legacy of Attack (2001)
TV ShowsSeaQuest 2032 (1993-1994)
#Quote
1Forever may it remain that way. And may God bless these now-found souls. [Expressing his hope that the Titanic would not be disturbed]
2The Titanic will protect itself. [on discovering that the ship's bow is too damaged and too deeply buried in the ocean bottom to be plundered by treasure hunters]
3It is a quiet and peaceful place-and a fitting place for the remains of this greatest of sea tragedies to rest. [on descending to the wreck of the RMS Titanic 73 years after it sank with more than 1,500 passengers on board, quoted in the NY Times, 10 September 1985]
#Fact
1Works with National Geographic and Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut.
2Is a big Red Sox fan.
3Has two children from first marriage, Todd (deceased) and Doug (married with one child). Has two children from present marriage, Ben (b. 1994) and Emily (b. 1998)
4Received an MS from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.
5He has explored many under water shipwrecks including the Britannic (Titanic's sister ship), Isis (an ancient Greek ship), and the ocean liner Lusitania.
6He is a former student and employee of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
7The name of the submarine that he uses on many under water adventures is "Alvin."
8Most famous for the discoveries of the wrecks of the RMS Titanic in 1985, sunk 1912; the DKM Bismarck in 1989, sunk 1941; the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in 1998, sunk 1941; and John F. Kennedy's PT-109 in 2002, sunk 1943.

Miscellaneous

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Lost Ships of the Mediterranean1999TV Movie documentary chief scientist - as Robert D. Ballard
Avalon: Beyond the Abyss1999TV Movie technical advisor
The Living Sea1995Documentary short academic advisor: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - as Dr. Robert Ballard
SeaQuest 20321993-1994TV Series technical consultant - 23 episodes

Producer

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Ghost of the Baltic Sea2005TV Movie documentary executive producer
Titanic Revealed2004TV Movie documentary executive producer
Lost Liners2000TV Movie documentary co-producer - as Robert D. Ballard
National Geographic Explorer1999TV Series documentary co-producer - 1 episode
Nova1999TV Series documentary consulting producer - 1 episode

Director

TitleYearStatusCharacter
The Search for PT 1092003Documentary executive creative director
National Geographic Video: Secrets of the Titanic1986Video documentary as Dr. Robert D. Ballard

Actor

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Sea Spies2003TV MovieNarrator

Camera Department

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Nova2015TV Series documentary underwater camera - 1 episode

Thanks

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Life's A Dive2014Documentary short thanks

Self

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Perspectives on Ocean Exploration2015DocumentaryHimself
60 Minutes2009-2015TV Series documentaryHimself - Explorer (segment "The Unknown America") / Himself (segment "The Great Explorer")
Nova2015TV Series documentaryHimself
Shipwrecked on a Great Lake2014Himself - Oceanographer
Titanic Belfast: City of a Thousand Launches2014DocumentaryHimself
Piers Morgan Tonight2014TV SeriesHimself
Gallipoli's Lost Shipwrecks2014TV MovieHimself
Descent Into the Depts2013Documentary shortHimself
First Voyage to the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument2013Video documentary shortHimself - Expert
Q with Jian Ghomeshi2013TV SeriesHimself - Guest
CBS This Morning: Saturday2012TV SeriesHimself - Guest
Alien Deep with Bob Ballard2012TV SeriesHimself - Host
Save the Titanic with Bob Ballard2012TV Movie documentaryHimself
The Colbert Report2009-2012TV SeriesHimself - Guest / National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence / Himself
Extreme Universe2010TV Series documentaryHimself - Oceanographer
Undercover History2008TV SeriesHimself
Titanic: Ballard's Secret Mission2008TV Movie documentaryHimself
Naked Science2007TV Series documentaryHimself
Wild Chronicles2005-2006TV Series documentaryHimself
National Geographic Explorer1985-2002TV Series documentaryHimself - Underwater Explorer / Himself - Undersea Explorer / Himself / ...
Alan Alda in Scientific American Frontiers2002TV SeriesHimself
Titanic: 90 Years Below2002Video documentaryHimself
The Quest for Noah's Flood2001TV Movie documentaryHimself
Pearl Harbor: Legacy of Attack2001TV Movie documentaryHimself
Lost Liners2000TV Movie documentaryHimself (as Robert Ballard)
The Titanic's Lost Sister1996TV Movie documentaryExpedition Leader
Titanic: Death of a Dream1994TV Movie documentaryHimself (director: center of marine exploration, woods hole oceanographic institute) (as Robert Ballard)
Jason V: Expedition Planet Earth1994TV Movie documentary
Wildlife Wars USA: Bears Under Siege1991TV Movie documentaryHimself - Host
Reading Rainbow1990TV SeriesHimself
National Geographic Video: Secrets of the Titanic1986Video documentaryHimself
Titanic: The Nightmare and the Dream1986TV Movie documentaryHimself
Living Seas1986TV MovieHimself (as Dr. Robert Ballard)
In Search of...1977TV Series documentaryHimself

Archive Footage

Known for movies


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