Why are billionaires buying islands and building secret bunkers? - Interesting Engineering (2024)

Numerous billionaires including Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson, and Larry Page have bought large chunks of land on islands. What’s even more surprising is that many such properties have underground tunnels leading to bunker-like structures.

For instance, Zuckerberg is building a $100 million bunker beneath his under-construction Ko’olau Ranch property on the Hawaiian island Kauai.

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In an interview, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman also revealed that nearly half of his billionaire friends from Silicon Valley either have some secret hideaways or are working on one.

But why the ultra-rich are buying islands and building bunkers? Don’t they already live in some of the world’s most posh and protected homes?

Are billionaires prepping for an upcoming apocalypse?

Some conspiracy theorists suggest that there is something these billionaires know — something bad that is likely to happen in 2024, and this is why they are building the secret bunkers.

By “something,” what most of these theorists mean is some sort of an apocalyptic event. Well, that may sound intriguing to many people but it may not be entirely true.

For instance, Mark Zuckerberg’s Ko’olau ranch reportedly has a large underground space, but that’s just one part of the $400 million under-construction building.

The ranch also has farms, cattle-feeding areas, breweries, and many other things that make it a private self-sustainable ecosystem.

Many expensive properties on the Hawaiian islands that are owned by other wealthy people also follow a similar concept.

Besides underground shelters, these ranches are also capable of producing organic food. Plus, they also have their own forests, bars, water reservoirs, and breweries.

If Zuckerberg knew something about an upcoming disaster, wouldn’t he have just spent his money on building the bunker? Why he is spending the additional hundreds of millions on farms and cattle?

Moreover, Elon Musk, Britney Spears, Larry Page, Oprah Winfrey, and Larry Ellison also own properties in Hawaii, and many of them still don’t have bunkers. Of course, Musk might have a secret rocket that will take him to Mars, but what about the other billionaires?

Looks like the ultra-rich build and own high-tech underground shelters not because of some rumored end-of-the-world situation but simply because they can afford to do so.

They build and own such facilities possibly to keep their families safe and continue their operations during a natural disaster or a war-like situation.

Not everything is good about the bunkers

Hawaii isn’t the only place that has billionaire-owned secret underground shelters.

Hamilton, Hanmer Springs, and Wanaka in New Zealand are also among some of the popular bunker hotspots of the ultra-rich.

“Saying you’re ”buying a house in New Zealand” is kind of a ”wink, wink, say no more,” Hoffman told The Daily Mail.

But why the rich people are choosing only remote islands and island nations to build their ranches and bunkers?

This is likely because of little government interference, meaning one can easily find and manage large pieces of land on the islands, and the chances of damage from a protest, riot, or war are also very low.

However, increasing billionaire ownership and control of islands could give rise to a new type of aristocracy or feudalism in these regions.

This could deprive the local communities of their rights, and the ultra-rich landowners may start acting like the Kings and nobles of the Middle Ages.

Moreover, by owning large pieces of an island, the rich also become owners of all the natural resources in that region. Their attempts to develop their self-sustainable mansions might disturb the fragile natural ecosystem that already exists there.

For instance, in 2022, a local community council in New Zealand opposed and prevented PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel from constructing an ambitious bunker near Lake Wanaka.

In its report, the council mentioned that Thiel’s underground shelter will “Substantially detract from the quality and naturalness of the outstanding natural landscape.”