Inside the luxury doomsday bunkers of the world’s richest: for billionaires, apocalypse prepping means US$14 million shelters with stables, bars, pools, cryptocurrency mining rooms and more …
- Tech billionaires are building luxury doomsday bunkers, according to a tell-all book by Douglas Rushkoff, who talked with five of the richest men in the world – could one of them be Elon Musk?
- Shelters built by companies like Vivos and Rising S range from US$35,000 to US$14 million – but can they actually help residents survive environmental collapse or a nuclear winter?
Tech billionaires are prepping for doomsday and buying luxury bunkers, according to a new tell-all book. In Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, Douglas Rushkoff details his experience chatting with five of the richest men in the world about how to prepare for an apocalypse.
Rushkoff, who often writes about the future of technology and is known for his association with early cyberpunk culture, said he was invited to a remote resort to talk with five of the world’s wealthiest men about the future of the planet. (Rushkoff did not specify who spoke to him at the resort, but said at least two of the men were billionaires.)
At the event, the City University of New York professor said he was repeatedly asked about the best ways to survive climate change or societal collapse, as the executives detailed their plans to build underground bunkers and avoid what they called “The Event”.
“The CEO of a brokerage house explained that he had nearly completed building his own underground bunker system, and asked, ‘How do I maintain authority over my security force after ‘The Event?’” Rushkoff wrote.
“The Event. That was their euphemism for the environmental collapse, social unrest, nuclear explosion, solar storm, unstoppable virus or malicious computer hack that takes everything down.”
In a post for The Guardian, Rushkoff highlighted some of the survival companies the ultra-wealthy are employing to build their escape, including Vivos and Rising S Company, which offer luxury shelters with amenities like pools and stables.
