Amid growing threats to the safety of our planet, a small group of elites — namely, Silicon Valley execs and New York City financiers — have started to discuss their doomsday plans over dinner.
In some cases, these conversations have prompted wealthy individuals to purchase underground bunkers to shelter themselves during a disaster.
"Billionaire bunkers" don't need to be built from scratch.
A few companies now manufacture luxury doomsday shelters that cater to superrich clientele.
The Vivos Group, a company based in Del Mar, California, is building a "global underground shelter network" for high-end clients.
Their fanciest compound, known as Europa One, is located beneath a 400-foot-tall mountain in the village of Rothenstein, Germany.
The shelter was once a storage space for Soviet military equipment during the Cold War, according to the company's website.
Source: Vivos
In exchange for purchasing a bunker, residents are provided with a full-time staff and security team.
The property is designed to withstand a close-range nuclear blast, airline crash, earthquake, flood, or military attack.
A typical living quarters has two floors. On the lower level (shown below), there are multiple bedrooms, a pool table, and a movie theater.
Each family is allotted 2,500 square feet, but has the option to extend their residence to 5,000 square feet.
The bunker includes communal spaces, such as a pub for tossing back a few while the world comes to an end.
When doomsday arrives, the company envisions residents arriving in Germany by car or plane. From there, Vivos will transport them via helicopter to their sheltered homes.
But the price will likely preclude most people from buying. Private apartments start at $2.5 million and fully furnished, semi-private suites start at around $40,000 a person.
If billionaires can't find space at Europa One, there's also xPoint, a compound in South Dakota that's almost the size of Manhattan.
The compound's location near the Black Hills of South Dakota makes it relatively safe from flooding and nuclear targets, according to Vivos.
xPoint comes with its own electrical and water systems, so residents can survive for at least a year without having to go outside.
The bunkers start at $35,000, but residents will also have to pay $1,000 in annual rent. That'll likely require some savings when it's unsafe to go outdoors.
The shelter is co-owned by its members, which makes it slightly more affordable than the company's other models.
Vivos claims on its website that the shelter is safe from tsunamis, earthquakes, and nuclear attacks.
In a statement, the company said interest in its shelters has "skyrocketed over the past few years." The website says that "few" spaces remain across its network of bunkers.
Source: Vivos
Vivos members aren't all elite one-percenters, the company said, "but rather well-educated, average people with a keen awareness of the current global events."
In an interview with the New Yorker, the company's CEO, Larry Hall, said his facility represented "true relaxation for the ultra-wealthy."
Source: The New Yorker
