11 min read

THE GLOBAL ELITE IN PREPARATION TO HIDE UNDERGROUND

peter thiel new zealand
Peter Thiel.

THE INSIDER - Katie Canales Mar 13, 2020, 1:37 PM

The wealthiest of Silicon Valley have become super doomsday preppers by buying remote New Zealand properties, getting eye surgeries, and stockpiling ammo and food

  • Some of the wealthiest of Silicon Valley have developed a penchant for prepping for the apocalypse in recent years.
  • Lasik eye surgery, multimillion-dollar real-estate investments in New Zealand, "go bags" filled with guns and food — they're going all out in the event of a disaster.
  • There may be something about extravagant doomsday prepping that is unique to Silicon Valley culture.
  • But it also could simply be that investing in preparations for the end of the world is a luxury only for the uber-rich, many of whom have the lucrative tech economy to thank for their wealth.

As the coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19, continues to infect thousands, our daily lives are being rerouted to adapt to the virus.

Many have been advised to work from home, if able, to help contain the disease. People are panic-buying toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Some city scenes have been called apocalyptic as we react to a viral outbreak that has now infected 127,000 people.

But for the doomsday prepper community, they're constantly preparing for disaster scenarios.

And the wealthiest in society, from Silicon Valley to Wall Street and beyond, take it to a whole other level, perhaps simply because they can afford to.

From buying up land in New Zealand to getting Lasik eye surgery, here's how and why some of the biggest names in tech have invested in doomsday prepping.

Survivalism is a movement whose participants actively prepare for a political, social, or natural global emergency by stockpiling food, weaponry, and other supplies.

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A prepper in Warrenton, North Carolina on December 13, 2012.

It's more commonly referred to as "doomsday prepping."

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A prepper in Warrenton, North Carolina on December 13, 2012.

Source: The New Yorker

There are subreddits and Facebook groups devoted to the community, and it's perforated pop culture in recent years, with TV programs like National Geographic Channel's "Doomsday Preppers" series that kicked off in 2012.

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A bunker at Utah Shelter Systems in North Salt Lake, Utah, on December 12, 2012.

Source: The New Yorker

There's an entire "doom boom" industry consisting of companies that sell emergency prep equipment.

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Phil Burns pulls a gun from his backpack full of survival supplies at his home in American Fork, Utah, December 14, 2012.

Source: NPR

An estimated 20% of Americans participate in some sort of doomsday prepping, according to a survey by Finder, which tracks spending habits.

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A prepper's home in Warrenton, North Carolina on December 13, 2012.

Source: Finder

But how the average American prepares is going to look a lot different from how the wealthiest in society will go about it.

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Prepper Jeff Nice looks at his farm in Kinston, North Carolina on December 14, 2012.

Investing in insurance for the end of the world has infiltrated the global elite lifestyle, and Silicon Valley's most notable figures are no exception.

Sam Altman
Ex-Y Combinator president Sam Altman.

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman told The New Yorker in 2017 that he bought motorcycles, guns, and ammo for his San Francisco home in the event of a disaster.

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San Francisco.

Source: The New Yorker

He said he became inspired to take precautions for potential disaster scenarios after seeing the movie "Deep Impact."

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A comet slams into the Atlantic Ocean in the movie, causing a tsunami.

Source: The New Yorker

And while most have at least motorcycles, guns, and gold coins stocked up in case of a catastrophe, that's at the tame end of the spectrum.

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Phil Burns, a firearms instructor, holds a handgun that he carries as part of his survival supplies at his home in American Fork, Utah, December 14, 2012.

Source: The New Yorker

Huffman got Lasik eye surgery to increase his odds of surviving some kind of world disaster. Yishan Wong, who served as CEO of Reddit from 2012 to 2014, did the same.

Steve Huffman Reddit CEO
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman.

Source: The New Yorker

The head of an investment firm told The New Yorker that he keeps a gassed-up helicopter on standby at all times and has an underground bunker with an air-filtration system.

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An example of an underground bunker.

Source: The New Yorker

Tim Chang, managing director at the venture capital firm Mayfield Fund, told The New Yorker that he keeps a set of bags packed for him and his family in case of a disaster. He also invests in real estate for passive income and to have safehouses in place.

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A man drags a suitcase.

Source: The New Yorker

Ex-Yahoo exec and current 500 Startups partner Marvin Liao said he took archery classes to be able to protect his family in the event that all hell broke loose.

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A Cirque Berserk performer in 2016.

Source: The New Yorker

Doomsday real estate purchases have also become a trend.

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The Survival Condo Project, a doomsday development.

Huffman told The New Yorker he estimated that more than 50% of his "fellow Silicon Valley billionaires" have acquired some kind of doomsday hideaway spot in the US or elsewhere in the world.

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Steve Huffman.

Source: The New Yorker

Antonio García Martínez, an ex-Facebook product manager who lives in San Francisco, bought five acres on an island in the Pacific Northwest. His island home features generators, solar panels, and weaponry.

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Washington State in 2015. Martinez's land is not pictured.

Source: The New Yorker

There could be many reasons why those with money in the Valley opt to invest in doomsday preparations.

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Peter Thiel.

One, as Huffman told The New Yorker, could be that Silicon Valley needs an exit strategy for when the angry masses retaliate against them for building the kind of automated technology that is replacing human workers.

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A robotic barista at San Francisco's now-shuttered Cafe X coffee bar.

Source: The New Yorker

Political unrest is another potential factor.

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Activists protest the Palantir Technologies software company for allegedly helping ICE and the Trump administration in New York City, U.S., September 13, 2019.

Source: The New Yorker

But their mere wealth and circumstances could also be the simplest explanation, as well as the experience that comes with operating in the risk-heavy venture capital industry.

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Peter Thiel at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in 2016.

As Wong, the former Reddit CEO, told The New Yorker, "The tech preppers do not necessarily think a collapse is likely. They consider it a remote event, but one with a very severe downside, so, given how much money they have, spending a fraction of their net worth to hedge against this ... is a logical thing to do."

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Thiel's net worth is an estimated $2.3 billion.

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Palmerston North, New Zealand, in 2011.

"New Zealand is already utopia," Silicon Valley billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel told Business Insider in 2011.

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Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2011.

Source: Business Insider

Thiel owns two New Zealand properties and became a citizen in 2011.

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Then-President-elect Donald Trump shakes the hand of Peter Thiel at Trump Tower, December 14, 2016 in New York City.

Source: Business Insider

Ex-president of famed accelerator Y Combinator Sam Altman said he also has his eyes trained on New Zealand in case of a disaster.

Sam Altman Sun Valley
Altman in Sun Valley, Idaho, in 2018.

Source: The New Yorker

He told The New Yorker that he and Thiel had an escape route to New Zealand planned in case of some kind of cataclysmic collapse, like a nuclear war or a viral outbreak.

sam altman
Altman.

Source: The New Yorker

The fixation on New Zealand could stem from one of Thiel's favorite books.

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A view of Lake Wanaka in the Otago region of New Zealand.

According to the Guardian's Mark O'Connell, Thiel has long cited "The Sovereign Individual: How to Survive and Thrive During the Collapse of the Welfare State" as one of the most influential in his life.

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Thiel speaks at a Republican National Convention in 2016.

Source: The Guardian

At its core, the book essentially details how a civilizational collapse would give way to the rise of the surviving "cognitive elite" who would then rebuild a new world after idling standing by — and hiding — as the existing way of life crumbled to pieces.

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The front of a doomsday shelter.

Source: The Guardian

Thiel passed the book on through the Valley grapevine, spreading the concept to his colleagues in the tech community, according to The Guardian.

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Sam Altman.

Source: The Guardian

The book's authors also pinpointed New Zealand as the prime spot to hole up until the dust settled following a fallout.

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Lake Tekapo, New Zealand.

That fact, coupled with Thiel's longtime fanaticism of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy — which was filmed in the country — is how Thiel and the rest of the tech elite made New Zealand their target apocalyptic hideout.

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Peter Thiel.

Source: Business Insider

According to The New Zealand Herald, Thiel bought a Queenstown mansion in 2011. He turned one of the home's walk-in closets into a panic room.

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Lake Wakatipu and Queenstown in New Zealand in 2011.

Source: Business Insider

Thiel obtained private citizenship of New Zealand in 2011 as well, despite only having spent 12 days in the country.

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Peter Thiel.

Source: The Guardian and The Guardian

And in 2015, he bought an estate on Lake Wanaka valued at around $10 million.

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Lake Wanaka in 2008.

Source: The New Zealand Herald

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Queenstown in the South Island of New Zealand in 2013.

Source: Business Insider

And some in New Zealand resent that so much of the nation's property has gone to wealthy foreign buyers who don't live there permanently.

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Peter Thiel lives in Los Angeles, California.

Source: The New Yorker

So in 2018, the New Zealand Parliament passed a law barring most foreign visitors from purchasing homes or land within the country, which had begun exacerbating a nationwide housing crisis.

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Lake Tekapo, New Zealand, in 2018.

Source: Business Insider

"If you've got the right to live in New Zealand permanently, you've got the right to buy here. But otherwise it's not a right, it's a privilege," New Zealand's minister for economic development and trade David Parker said in 2018.

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David Parker in 2019.

Source: Business Insider

The country of New Zealand requires foreigners who purchase land there to be "of good character," a clause that affected former NBC host Matt Lauer when sexual-misconduct allegations arose in 2017.

Matt Lauer
Matt Lauer.

Source:  Business Insider

Lauer purchased a 16,000-acre ranch valued at $9.1 million in early 2017 before the allegations were made public. New Zealand ultimately allowed the former TV host to keep his land.

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Matt Lauer in 2016.

Source: Business Insider and The New York Times

The clause still applies to all New Zealand property owners — good character is "actively confirmed" throughout ownership periods.

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Lake Rotoiti on New Zealand's South Island in 2016.

Source: The New York Times and Business Insider

SEE ALSO: Tech companies have canceled 12 high-profile conferences so far, causing an estimated economic loss of $1 billion amid coronavirus concerns.

Here's the full list.

Visual Slideshow Features San Francisco San Francisco Bay Area



WHO and WHAT is behind it all ? : >


The bottom line is for the people to regain their original, moral principles, which have intentionally been watered out over the past generations by our press, TV, and other media owned by the Illuminati/Bilderberger Group, corrupting our morals by making misbehavior acceptable to our society. Only in this way shall we conquer this oncoming wave of evil.

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