Jack Grimm

Jack Francis Grimm (May 18, 1925 – January 6, 1998), nicknamed "Cadillac Jack," was an American independent oil tycoon, geologist, author and explorer. He achieved international notoriety in the late 20th century for financing expeditions to locate historical artifacts and legends and, to no avail, led three searches for the wreck of the Titanic.

Early life and education Grimm was born on May 18, 1925, in Wagoner, Oklahoma to Suell Hinkle Grimm and Ida Mae Vermillion. He served as a Marine Corps demolition expert during World War II. Following the war he attended the University of Oklahoma and graduated with a degree in oil geology. During his studies, he was inspired to pursue independent wildcatting after visiting classmate Nelson Bunker Hunt, son of the billionaire oil tycoon H. L. Hunt.

Oil career Grimm attempted to pan for gold while on his honeymoon in California before he started drilling for oil through independent wells. Even though his initial attempt at drilling in Oklahoma was profitable, he lost large amounts of money after drilling 25 unsuccessful wells in Texas. The 26th attempt, however, was successful, and Grimm was able to tap into an oil reserve that would yield $1,000 daily and thus make him a millionaire by the age of 31. He then founded Grimm Oil Company in Abilene, Texas. His obsession began in 1970 after he read a newspaper article about an upcoming French search. He immediately phoned sponsors, offered financial backing and joined the team. They found nothing.

In 1974, Grimm financed his own independent expedition. He located and dug up a massive chunk of structural wood from the mountainside and carried it in his briefcase for the rest of his life, insisting it was a piece of the Ark. To recoup his $20,000 investment he packaged his footage into a 1975 documentary titled Ark of Noah, which became a success via cable television.

Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot searches Grimm poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into Scotland's famous loch in order to prove the existence the Loch Ness Monster. He financed underwater sonar sweeps of the lake bed to search for large moving targets. This later inspired the method used in Grimm's three attempts to find the Titanic.

Concurrently with his Loch Ness efforts, Grimm sponsored professional tracking operations in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest to prove the existence of Bigfoot. He hired trackers and funded equipment to try and capture photographic or physical evidence of the Sasquatch, to no avail.

In 1980, Grimm partnered with Columbia University's Lamont–Doherty Geological Observatory, donating $330,000 for a wide-sweep sonar system in exchange for technical support from scientists, including Dr. William B. F. Ryan and Dr. Fred Spiess. The expedition drew controversy after Grimm attempted to bring a trained monkey named Titan to locate the wreck via "primate ESP." The scientists issued an ultimatum: "It's either us or the monkey." Grimm initially chose the monkey but due to scientist objections, the monkey was eventually left ashore.

Grimm's second attempt in 1981 captured an underwater camera frame of a large metallic object on the sea floor. Grimm claimed the object was one of the Titanic's propeller blades, a claim that was disputed by his scientific consultants. There has since been much debate over what Grimm actually found, and it was later discovered that the ship had passed within 1.5 miles of the actual wreck site.

Grimm was notoriously eccentric. He dressed in custom made cowboy boots and smoked expensive cigars while driving different custom Cadillacs, eventually being nicknamed Cadillac Jack because of this. He was also an excellent poker player who used the game of poker to network with other rich oil tycoons for additional funding of his exploration projects. Comic book writer Scott Snyder cited Grimm's name and historical background as a wealthy, eccentric Texan as the inspiration for naming "Jack Grimm," the billionaire corporate alter-ego of the Joker in the 2024 DC Comics Absolute Batman series.