Author: Emily Guy Birken / Source: Wise Bread
Theoretically, a zombie apocalypse (or another, more likely doomsday event) could be a great equalizer. When the dead are walking in search of fresh brains, billionaires and burger-flippers alike will be boarding up windows and pushing heavy furniture against doors.
After all, no matter how much money you have, it’s impossible to completely insulate yourself against true end-of-the-world scenarios.However, that kind of thinking underestimates the paranoia — er, preparation — of the world’s wealthiest individuals. These multimillionaires and billionaires have enough money to buy themselves a kind of apocalypse insurance for when things go sideways. This means that whether the world ends in fire or in ice, billionaire preppers will be able to ride things out in comfort from one of these locations. (See also: The High Cost of Planning for the End of the World)
1. Panic rooms
These secluded rooms in wealthy homes are designed as a safe place to wait out any number of dangers, from burglars, stalkers, or other intruders, to natural disasters or nuclear fallout. Panic rooms are often disguised behind fake bookshelves or walls or are otherwise hidden, and they have security features like password or thumbprint authorization to make sure only recognized individuals can get in, as well as Kevlar lining, infrared surveillance, and an escape tunnel.
These rooms may have once been nothing more than secure places to wait out a siege or disaster, a la the bare-bones panic room where Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart hide in the 2002 film. But these days, one-percenters who would like to have a safe hiding place in case of an actual Purge expect more luxurious amenities, such as sleeping quarters and autonomous air-filtration systems, to help them stay put for some time.
While many high-end homes come already equipped with these safe spaces, there is a thriving panic room installation industry. It can cost up to half a million dollars to install such a room, although many who do so feel that the peace of mind is worth the money.
2. Island real estate
Depending on the type of doomsday scenario, getting the heck away from major metropolitan areas may be enough to protect a worried billionaire from nuclear radiation, natural disasters, global pandemics, and even pitchfork-wielding mobs. This is why many international billionaires have been purchasing homes and land in New Zealand, including Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal, director James Cameron, and billionaire hedge-fund pioneer Julian Robertson.
Not only is this scenic (and remote) island nation unlikely to be hit by a nuclear attack, but it could potentially be self sufficient in the event of a global apocalypse, and it has a great deal of inaccessible land up for grabs to any billionaire who can afford it.
Though New Zealand has become a “nudge, wink” for apocalypse insurance in Silicon Valley according to LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, some American billionaires want an island paradise a little closer to home for bugging out. Oracle founder Larry Ellison now owns 98 percent of the Hawaiian island Lanai, while Facebook creator and CEO Mark Zuckerberg purchased a 700-acre estate in Hawaii.
All of these purchases could simply be vacation homes, but since Hawaii also…
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