What Business Learned From Blinken’s Trip to China

Time is ticking. Coast Guard officials estimated that the Titan submersible, which disappeared Sunday morning, theoretically had between 70 to 96 hours of air as of late yesterday afternoon. (That is, if its hull is intact.) Among the five people on board are Hamish Harding, a wealthy British adventurer and aviation executive, and Paul Henry Nargeolet, a French expert on the Titanic.

American and Canadian aircraft, as well as commercial vessels, were looking for the Titan, while sonar buoys had been deployed. But here’s a good explainer about how difficult it may be to find the vehicle and rescue its occupants.

The business of exploring the extremes is booming. OceanGate Expeditions, which operates the Titan, has been charging up to $250,000 a seat since 2021 to tour the undersea remains of the Titanic.

While well-heeled vacationers have long paid to take glamorous risks — hiking up Mount Everest or swimming with great whites — the most wealthy have increasingly flocked to the frontiers offered by space travel. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic (not to be confused with the failed Virgin Orbit) is selling tickets for suborbital flight for $450,000 apiece, while one ticket on a Blue Origin flight last year reportedly went for $1.25 million. (Mr. Harding had previously flown on a Blue Origin rocket.)

UTA makes an even bigger sports bet

United Talent Agency, whose A-list clients range from the actor Timothée Chalamet to the singers Post Malone and Lizzo, is expanding further into media and sports by acquiring James & Co., an executive search firm specializing in the sector, for an undisclosed amount, DealBook’s Lauren Hirsch is first to report.

Talent agencies have been diving into sports, echoing moves by technology giants to throw cash at one of the few sectors still driving eyeballs to live television. Last year, Creative Artists Agency, which represents Dwyane Wade, Steven Spielberg and Zendaya, bought its rival ICM, in part to push further into sports. CAA’s clients include the football star Aaron Rodgers, basketball’s Chris Paul and the Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo.