The richest geeks of Silicon Valley began to prepare for the apocalypse

Nonsense or nonsense, and reinsure once again does not hurt. Apparently, California IT billionaires think so. In recent months, they began to buy shelters in New Zealand - in order, if anything, to sit out the worst scenario. And it has become such a trend that the New Zealand government wants to ban foreigners from building such “post-apocalyptic” houses.

In the last couple of months alone, several giant 150-ton bunkers for “survivors” have been transported across the Pacific from Texas to the coast of New Zealand. There they were installed in secret locations at a depth of five meters. This tells Gary Lynch, the head of Rising S, responsible for their manufacture. In total this year, seven billionaires from Silicon Valley have ordered production and installation of such bunkers from Rising S. And Rising S is not the only company in the States that provides these services.

The idea is that at the first signs of an apocalypse — a nuclear war, a suicidal virus, an artificial intelligence uprising or a popular revolution — quickly jump onto a private jet and fly straight to the shelter. (By the way, the question is - what will happen to the pilot who takes them there? Give it to be eaten by alien beetles?)

“New Zealand does not threaten anyone,” Lynch explains in an interview. - “She is not an enemy to anyone. This is not a target for a nuclear strike, there is unlikely to be a war. This is the place where people from all over the world will flee to seek refuge, an island of security. ”

A calm country with 4.8 million inhabitants and 30 million sheep, beautiful landscapes and politicians who ride bicycles to work has become one of the favorite places among rich American geeks. The pace of life there is not at all like San Francisco. Even ordinary IT specialists in recent years are increasingly going there - creating start-up incubators and glad that the cost of renting there is several times lower.

Geographical isolation, once considered to be a big problem in New Zealand, suddenly became its main advantage. Until recently, the country allowed emigrants, in fact, to buy citizenship through investor visas. Entered the country $ 6.7 million over three years - and you can live there safely. For rich Americans, this is easy: just buy a good house in the country, open a small startup, or, again, dig a bunker for yourself. Over the past year, 17 Internet rich people “moved” to New Zealand in this way.

The situation escalated after trump's election victory. Prior to this, a permanent residence permit in the country usually received only 5-6 investors per year. When it became known that Trump would be the president of the United States, the number of visits to the immigration site of New Zealand increased 24 times (although Canada still wanted to emigrate more, so that even the site was thrown there). But only the richest, and only from the west coast, put their crazy idea into practice.

The billionaire and hedge fund founder Julian Robertson now has a multi-kilometer estate over Wakatipu mountain lake. The head of financial corporations, Bill Folly, owns a ranch in the east of the country. And the director of "Avatar" and "Titanic" James Cameron took his estate at Lake Punui.

A big scandal recently brought on Peter Thiel, a billionaire and co-founder of PayPal. He was given citizenship after he had been in the country for only 12 days. Discussions on the topic “Our passport is not a piece of paper for sale” began to be heard in parliament. Till has an estate of 193 hectares near the lake near the town of Wanaka, overlooking the snow-capped mountains. After obtaining citizenship, he also bought a house in Queenstown, equipped with a special safe room.

In August, in order to stop the Americans seizing all the best land and real estate, the New Zealand government introduced a law completely prohibiting foreigners from buying houses. The restriction should take effect in the coming months. Investing in the economy of the country, opening new firms, is still possible, but you will have to live in something rented, so you cannot build a refuge for yourself for the ages.

The country's former prime minister, John Key, explains:

If you are so prudent that you want to have a plan for the case of Armageddon, it is clear that you will be looking for the most distant place and the most peaceful environment. If you google these parameters, you will give it to New Zealand. This is the last stop on the way to Antarctica. I met a lot of people who told me that they would like to receive property from us in case the world slips into hell. But we do not want to be associated with it.

Former Prime Minister adds:

It is a fact, some people just have a huge fortune. And when you are so rich, and even read science fiction, allocating some millions to Plan B is not such a crazy idea as it seems.

At the last three dinner parties among the rich people of Silicon Valley, they discussed the possibility of flying to New Zealand if disaster struck. So say the guests present there who wished to remain anonymous.

Recently, at a party, a famous venture capitalist told the crowd about his escape plan. In the garage of his home in San Francisco there is a bag with rifles hanging from the helm of a motorcycle. He will run, jump on a motorcycle. That will allow him to maneuver among the crowd, fleeing from disaster. He quickly gets to the finished private aircraft. And if some zombies stand in his way - that bullet in the forehead.

On the plane, he will go to a specific landing strip in the state of Nevada. There, in the hangar, he and his four fellow billionaires will be in temporary security. And then - a long flight to the bunker in New Zealand, away from the end of the world.

A similar story in 2016 told Sam Altman, president of the incubator startups Y Combinator. According to him, he planned to fly to New Zealand with the same Peter Thiel in the event of a pandemic. True, now Altman refuses, and says he was joking:

The world is now so deeply united that if something happens, it will affect all of us, unfortunately. I do not think that you can just hide somewhere on the edge of the Earth.

But Altman is still convinced that a biological attack is the main threat to our civilization, and that "people are not so afraid of it as they should be." He always has a bag with weapons, antibiotics, water, a blanket, a tent and gas masks under the bed.

Robert Visino, founder of the Vivos Project, which is building giant underground bunkers, says that Silicon Valley elites substantively discussed plans to escape to New Zealand at the previous World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “They foresee a revolution in which society will go after the rich from the first percent. That is, behind them. "

According to Visino, New Zealand is not the best solution for the apocalypse. A tsunami caused by a meteorite falling into the Pacific Ocean can cover the islands even at the highest point. But he is primarily a businessman, and demand creates supply. Now his company is building a huge bunker in the north of the South Island, capable of holding 300 people (and with relative comfort). Price - $ 35,000 per person.

Few royal hotel rooms are worth that amount. Still, this is a super-advantageous offer, especially compared to the cost of a private bunker from Rising S. Gary Lynch only takes $ 8 million for the construction of his “impenetrable” shelters. But then they still need to be sent to New Zealand and collected there place

The last two bunkers of 92 m ² , made this year, had to be divided into sections and placed on 19 wagons to take out of Texas. One bunker sailed to the city of Picton in the north of the country. From there he was transported to a secret place near the quiet village on the west coast. The second bunker arrived at the harbor of Auckland, and he was transported deep into, buried among the hills.

It takes two weeks to dig up the ground, assemble and dive the bunker. All this is done in strict secrecy, so that the locals do not even suspect that they have a neighbor, "survivalist". A month after the installation, passers-by from a couple of meters cannot understand that there is something next to them. "You can't see anything, not even the door."

What is it, idiocy or a logical plan? If you had a billion, would you choose New Zealand, or are there better options?

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