How Did The Curse Of Oak Island's Lagina Brothers Make Their Money?
The History Channel's "The Curse of Oak Island" follows two brothers who have pooled their money and resources together to realize one brother's dream of uncovering a mystery that is over 200 years old. Marty and Rick Lagina are in search of a long-lost treasure on Oak Island — which Rick read about in a 1965 edition of Reader's Digest when he was just 11 years old. It has always been Rick's dream to discover the long-lost treasure on the island located off the shore of Nova Scotia, Canada, and with the help of the History Channel, the two brothers have the opportunity to do so.
The legend of the island suggests that there is a "money pit" full of treasure somewhere on the island that may have been from a variety of historical sources — but that treasure is said to come at a price. According to the Daily Press, there is a legend that the island's secrets will only be revealed when seven people lose their lives while searching for the treasure; so far, six men have allegedly died while doing so.
One thing that the brothers have learned over the last eight seasons on the show is that it takes a lot of money to go searching for treasure. So how do these brothers afford all of the equipment and manpower to continue to search for the lost treasure?
One of the brothers came with more than enough capital to get the job done
One of the Lagina brothers was already well-off before the show began — but is investing his wealth to help his brother realize a dream he has had since he was a boy. Rick may have ultimately been the catalyst for this show and for the crusade to ever take place, but his brother Marty has fronted the majority of the money needed in the search. Rick had a career as a postal worker in Michigan prior to his retirement and move to full-time Oak Island explorer, while his brother had a much more lucrative career in his early life.
Marty studied to be an engineer at Michigan Tech and worked for a major oil firm after graduating in 1977. He would work there for several years while also working toward a degree in law from the University of Michigan. After his graduation in 1982, he would found his own natural gas company that would become a pioneer in natural gas extraction. Over a decade later he would sell the company for around $60 million and use that money to invest, launch another energy start-up company, and purchase a vineyard in his home state of Michigan.
Both of the brothers are thought to have increased their overall net worth since the premiere of "The Curse of Oak Island" in 2014 despite only finding a few bits of "treasure" here and there through their drilling. So, even though they have most likely spent millions of dollars on searching for the treasure on Oak Island, they aren't hurting financially.