Britain-based billionaire killed in Titan sub leaves less than £100k to wife in Surrey after dying without valid UK will

A UK-based billionaire who died in the OceanGate Titan submersible disaster left his wife less than £100,000 in Britain after dying without a valid British will, newly-released probate documents have revealed.

Shahzada Dawood, 48, who perished alongside his teenage son in the tragic incident in June 2023, had his £76,958 UK estate issued to his wife Christine, who lives in Surrey.

The documents show that Dawood was domiciled in Pakistan, with the majority of his fortune remaining outside Britain.

Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman were among five victims killed when the OceanGate submersible suffered a catastrophic implosion near the wreck of the Titanic.

The vessel lost communication with its support ship, the Polar Prince, one hour and 45 minutes into the dive off Newfoundland’s coast.

The wreckage was later discovered 330 yards from the Titanic’s bow, some 3,700 metres below the ocean’s surface.

OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61, British businessman Hamish Harding, 58, and French navy veteran Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77, were also named as victims from the disaster.

As he died without a valid UK will, a Grant of Letters of Administration was issued to Christine Dawood as his lawful spouse.

MORE ON THE OCEANGATE DISASTER:

• Horror detail in Titan sub investigation may finally explain fault which killed entire crew 4,000 metres underwater
• Chilling last words from Titan crew after pilot refused to enter doomed submersible
• Titanic submarine: OceanGate CEO was ‘playing Russian roulette’ with passengers’ safety as vessel was getting ‘weaker each time’

Mrs Dawood continues to reside in the family’s Surrey home, where she received the modest British portion of her late husband’s estate.

The billionaire businessman, who served as a trustee at the SETI Institute and worked with the Prince’s Trust, had the majority of his considerable fortune held outside the UK.

Speaking to The Daily Mail, Christine shared her heartbreaking moment of realisation with her daughter Alina on the support ship.

“The moment we knew they’d found debris and there were no survivors, Alina and I went on deck. I turned to her and said: ‘I’m a widow now.’ She said: ‘Yes, and I’m a single child,'” she recalled.

“We don’t have graves for them,” she added. “But recently we went to Singapore. The sea was warm enough for us to walk in and I truly felt them around me.”

Suleman, a student at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, had taken his Rubik’s Cube on the fatal journey, hoping to break the world record for solving the puzzle at the greatest depth.

Mrs Dawood had originally planned to make the Titanic journey herself with her husband, but their trip was cancelled due to Covid-19.

Suleman, who had developed a fascination with the Titanic after completing a 10,000-piece Lego model, took his mother’s place on the expedition.