Shawn Pomerenke and his father are regulars on the Discovery Channel’s “Bering Sea Gold”, better known as “Gold Divers” in the UK. Essentially the channel’s favorite location for filming, Shawn and his dad own a dredger named Christine Rose. They spend their time at sea searching for gold on the seabed. Although his father is known for his strong ethical and moral compass, Shawn doesn’t quite follow in his father’s footsteps. Pomerenke has been involved in two highly publicized incidents, one in which he caused grievous bodily harm and the second in which he was arrested on multiple charges.

There is a lot of speculation about the star as he keeps much of his life a secret, and there are conflicts in information about his family life.

Early life and family

Shawn Pomerenke was born on March 26, 1975 in Alaska, USA. His father, Steve Pomerenke, had worked hard to make it to Alaska, born and raised on a dairy farm in Minnesota, he had to make his own way to Alaska to fulfill his gold diving dreams. The passion that had taken him to the cold Bering Sea was soon inherited by his son. Shawn started gold prospecting with his father when he was just 12 years old; after that, he knew exactly what he intended for his life and devoted himself to helping his father build an empire.

Education

Shawn Pomerenke attended Nome Beltz High School in Alaska, but by then he already knew what he wanted from life. After his matriculation exam, Shawn immediately went into business with his father on Christine Rose, as he considered any tertiary education unnecessary.

Career

Earlier

Despite his dreams of glory, Steve Pomerenke was mostly met with disappointment when he finally started gold mining in the US, with marginal success but nothing that lived up to his expectations. After Shawn started gold diving with him at the age of 12, he had a partner who was just as passionate about the venture as he was. Together they got the Christine Rose off the ground and from then on their success only grew.

The two now own several businesses and hundreds of acres of land; they have a land mine on Anvil Mountain, and their winnings from this combined with those of the Christine Rose have finally realized their dreams and allow them to live in extreme comfort. In 2016, Steve and Shawn teamed up with J Keith Byer to form a band Pomerenke Mining LLC, consisting of what was once Northwest Gold Diggers LLC and Blue Water Gold LLC. Shawn Pomerenke is officially the company’s Senior Vice President of Operations, while his father is CEO.

Discovery Channel

After the resounding success of the Discovery Channel’s “Gold Rush,” the producers realized the almost magnetic effect gold had on viewers, and they wanted to replicate that success.

The show premiered on January 27, 2012 and went through several iterations of the title in its first few seasons, eventually settling on “Bering Sea goldand “Gold Divers” in the UK. The show saw a huge increase in tourism to Nome, Alaska where it is filmed, not always welcomed by locals and prospectors in the area who even tried to sue the Discovery Channel.

Discovery Channel is famous or infamous for finding colorful cast members. Sure, on “Bering Sea Gold,” they had aspiring opera singer Emily Reidel, spearheading her own dredge, but when it comes to Shawn Pomerenke, they struck gold themselves. Shawn is extremely driven and determined when it comes to his craft.

Although his hunches don’t always come true, he never gives up and has his eye on success. Despite being a highly controversial character with his legal and personal history, he remains a fan favorite of the show. He enjoys interacting with them, taking pictures and is generally extremely friendly.

In true Discovery Channel style, the show has spawned multiple spin-offs in which Shawn has appeared. He appeared in “Bering Sea Gold: Back to the Dredge”, a movie about the show, and also appeared in “Bering Sea Gold: After the Dredge” both in 2012, “Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice” from 2012 until 2014, and made a cameo appearance in ‘Gold Rush: The Dirt’ in 2020.

Pomerenke has proven to be a smart businessman with an eye for planning and strategy. Shawn has never watched the show himself, citing the fact that he doesn’t care how the other dredges are doing, and is confident in his own abilities.

Private life

Family

Shawn maintains a good relationship with his father, but the clarity stops there. While Shawn is constantly telling the public that he is single and not in any relationship, there is a lot of speculation. Most believe he was married to a former long-term girlfriend for a while, but is now divorced or single. What we do know is that Shawn has two children, supposedly with a woman identified simply as Jenny, and a grandchild.

His son, Dylan Pomerenke, has appeared on “Bering Sea Gold” several times, and his daughter and grandchild regularly appear on his Facebook page.

Pomerenke complies with the law

Although Shawn has been accused of having several outstanding bills, this cannot be confirmed. What is known without a doubt is a few other encounters with the law. In 2012, Shawn Pomerenke was visiting a bar when he got into an argument with another customer. Words turned to blows and a knife was drawn. Shawn was literally stabbed in the back and had to spend time in hospital recovering from the effects of the altercation.

In 2013, Pomerenke was involved in much more horrifying event.

While the following is enough to change people’s opinion of the affable character, most remain undaunted. Shawn was backing out of a parking lot when he hit a customer carrying their groceries – unfazed, Shawn would have given the customer a smile and thumbs up before driving off. When authorities finally caught up with Pomerenke, they breathed him out, revealing his alcohol content was nearly twice the legal level of .125. Shawn received a DUI and three other charges: driving without insurance, failure to return to the scene of the accident, and 3^ed degree of mistreatment of a citizen. The result of the charges has not been released, but he has not served any jail time for the event.

Appearance

While his personality may be far removed from his father’s, the two have some similar characteristics.

Shawn has light brown hair that falls on the blonde side, which is evident in his beard. He has bright blue eyes and is well built. His teeth were a bone of contention in his life, and Shawn even wore braces for a while as an adult. Pomerenke is 1.67 m tall and weighs 79 kg.

Net worth and salary

What started as an unproductive venture is now a thriving gold empire. In addition to his pay for his performance in “Bering Sea Gold,” Shawn received a significant income from the various businesses he and his father own, not to mention the gold they mine. Shawn’s net worth has reached an impressive $6 million in mid-2020.