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Who Owns Oak Island in Nova Scotia? Hidden Treasure Tales Continue
By Kathryn Underwood
Dec. 8 2021, Published 10:01 a.m. ET
For years, there have been rumors about hidden treasures on Oak Island. The island has also been the subject of a History Channel television show The Curse of Oak Island. The island has yielded plenty of valuable and interesting finds in that time for the Lagina brothers. They own a 50 percent stake in this tiny plot of land. It's a thousand feet wide and less than one mile long.
The remaining 50 percent of the island was owned by Dan Blankenship, a resident of the island for decades, until his death in 2019. Blankenship had spent 50 years attempting to excavate the island's secrets, a role that his son Dave Blankenship took over in his absence, although he doesn't appear on The Curse of Oak Island.
Source: Curse of Oak Island Facebook
Who are the Lagina brothers?
Rick and Marty Lagina, American brothers, own a 50 percent stake in Oak Island Tours, Inc., which in turn owns the rights to the island itself. According to Sky HISTORY, Rick Lagina was fascinated with the island's legends as a young boy after reading a Reader's Digest article about Oak Island.
Marty Lagina helped his brother attain his goal of searching Oak Island to uncover its alleged mysteries and treasures. He put up the majority of the money for the island. However, the purchase amount hasn't been disclosed.
The brothers bought half of the island tour company in 2006. In 2014, they started documenting their search with the History Channel show The Curse of Oak Island.
What treasures have been found on Oak Island?
Using massive (and expensive) drilling rigs and excavating equipment, the Lagina brothers have tried to follow clues to locate valuable items and information. Here are a few of their top finds on Oak Island:
The Money Pit (a pit assumed to be used for hiding jewels)
A jeweled brooch
A "Roman" sword (later shown to be a replica)
Possible remnants of the Knight's Templar
Artifacts possibly owned by Samuel Ball, a slave who won his freedom by fighting for the British
A Spanish ring and Spanish coin
What are the Lagina brothers' net worths?
Rick Lagina was a postal worker until he retired and took up endeavors on Oak Island. He has a current estimated net worth of $10 million, according to CelebrityNetWorth.
Marty Lagina's business acumen eventually enabled him to finance most of the brothers' curious searching on Oak Island. He started building his approximate $100 million net worth with the company Terra Energy in the 1990s, which he later sold to CMS Energy for $58 million. Marty also started a wind-energy company, Heritage Sustainable, in Michigan.
David Blankenship lives on Oak Island.
Meanwhile, David Blankenship is a current resident of Oak Island. His father lived on the island and searched for treasures for half a century. According to History.com, David was seriously injured in a workplace accident about 30 years ago, which impacted his mobility.
Both David and his father appeared in The Curse of Oak Island, but David has now left the show, possibly due to tensions between him and the Lagina brothers about how they treated Dan over the years. PopularNetWorth estimates that David has a net worth of $1 million.