This episode is brought to you by Curiosity Stream
Use our link in the description below for a 30 day trial
giving you unlimited access to thousands of documentaries and
non-fiction titles, from some of the worlds best filmmakers
When you use the code "Infographics"
Perhaps we’re rather pessimistic, but we’re inclined to believe that sooner or later there
will be a World War III or some other apocalyptic event.
We’re not going to delve into which country will cause what--it could be the assasination
of a world leader that triggers a war or perhaps a plague that causes zombies.
But ultimately there’s going to be a devastating series of events that will cause mass destruction,
misery and death on a large scale.
So if you’re used to your butler bringing you lobster and champagne when you ring a
bell, how do you prepare for doomsday?
Ok, maybe that was a silly stereotype, but the super wealthy have made plans far beyond
the typical doomsday prepper to not only survive in comfort and preserve their fortunes, but
also to thrive and possibly even make money off the destruction or reconstruction.
For the purpose of this video, we’re defining super rich as people who have over 30 million
dollars.
This is about 0.003% of the world’s population, and in 2018 this was 265,490 individuals.
Collectively, their combined total wealth was estimated to be $32.3 trillion or about
13% of the world's total wealth.
Obviously, you would want to make sure your financial assets are in the best position
possible to not only ride out the war, but if/when the world begins to rebuild you can
thrive.
A common side effect of war to prepare for is hyperinflation.
During World War II, Hungary was economically devastated.
As a warzone, the country’s infrastructure was destroyed, buildings were left in ruins
and personal wealth was looted.
Also Hungary was heavily in debt for extending credit to and producing goods for Germany
which never paid it back.
After the war ended, Hungary was forced to pay reparations to the Soviets.
All this led to the Hungarian government printing more money which caused a really bad case
of hyperinflation.
In August 1945 one kilogram [2.2 lbs] of bread cost 6 Hungarian pengős, less than a year
later, in May 1946 the same amount of bread cost 8 million pengős.
It doesn’t even take a war to cause hyperinflation, more recently countries have experienced hyperinflation
due to land expropriation and printing extra money while the country's running a deficit,
etc.
The super rich are already adept at protecting their wealth, such as hiding assets behind
shell companies or moving money to unaccountable and largely untaxed offshore accounts and
corporations.
However, in recent years they have intensified the diversify of their investments, often
buying sovereign bonds for countries they think could be on the winning side of a major
war and investing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Also they’ve put a significant amount of money into a variety of tangible assets such
as gold, silver, copper, steel and oil which could be used to rebuild society after a cataclysmic
event.
Of course you need places to store such items.
What could be better than storage at a luxurious doomsday bunker?
Over the past 20 years, there’s been a surge in people building doomsday bunkers, especially
the rich.
It fact a number of companies have sprung up catering to building doomsday domiciles
for the well heeled.
The Survival Condo Project is one such corporation.
They’ve repurpose a silo at a former Atlas “F” Missile launch site in Kansas into
an underground oasis that can sustain 75 people for over 5 years.
The facility features condos with lavish furnishings, and among the many shared amenities are an
indoor pool, library, dog park, movie theatre and medical first aid center.
Of course, the whole community is protected with cutting edge technology.
The price ranges from $1.5 million+ for a 900 square foot condo with one to two bedrooms
to $4.5 million for a “penthouse” suite.
Thinking of taking out a loan for purchasing a fancy hidey hole?
Not so fast, most banks won’t loan money to purchase secondary luxury shelters.
The community only considers buyers who have the funds for purchase in liquid capital.
The Survival Condo Project has completely sold out its first silo and is now building
out a second silo which is also in Kansas.
There are actually a number of expensive shelter communities around the world.
In a quiet valley of the Czech Republic is The Oppidum.
At 323,000 sq ft above and below ground, it’s the world’s largest exclusive luxury bunker.
You can’t even view the Oppidum’s website without a secret invitation code.
Other corporations such as the Rising S Company sells customizable bunkers which they will
build anywhere in the world for clients.
Their top of the line luxury underground bunker is called The Aristocrat and starts at $8.5
million + installation costs.
Among the many features it comes with are a sauna, gym, media room, bowling alley, multi-vehicle
garage with motor-cave, and a greenhouse for sustainable food growing.
While the company has not publicly disclosed how many Aristocrats they’ve sold, in the
last few years business has boomed for them.
Yet other companies specialize in outfitting existing property to be survival ready.
Depending on the property, that may mean adding such features as an underground shelter, solar
panels, a water reserve tank, etc.
Central to having a fancy yet functional abode for when the world is burning is where the
property is located.
In recent years many of the wealthiest American have purchased millions of acres of America’s
heartland and the Pacific Northwest where farming and living off the land is sustainable.
Others have sought dual citizenship in countries they think will be safest for riding out apocalyptic
events such as Canada or Argentina.
New Zealand’s mainly rural landscape and low human population is especially popular
with tech billionaires building survival real estate.
The fact that New Zealand is commonly not considered a nuclear target is probably part
of the appeal too.
In recent years several wealthy American citizens have sought citizenship through the New Zealand
Investor Plus Visa which allows them to bypass the normal immigrant process, but requires
them to invest upwards of NZD $10 million ($6.7 million USD) in the country over three
years.
Others have focused on amassing citizenship in multiple countries and EU passports--sometimes
with lovely private properties in each country so if times get tough, they have a choice
of multiple destination to flee to.
Great.
You have a fancy, protected mansion to survive the apocalypse in style and thankfully you
have loyal employees who in return for a safe place to ride out the apocalypse will protect
and maintain your property.
But there’s one huge problem: travel, once the zombies begin to rise or war starts, how
do you get to your fancy digs so you can hunker down?
Well, if you purchase a condo in the Survival Condo community, they offer three different
contingency plans for getting to the facility.
These plans are only fully disclosed to purchasers.
However, publically the company has mentioned that if a condo owner can get within 400 miles
(644 km) of the community, SWAT team-style trucks will be sent to pick them up.
Other one percenters have arranged to keep helicopters, small planes or jets on standby
near their primary location(s) incase the you know what begins hitting the fan.
Some people have even opted to take flying lessons so they can fly even if a pilot isn’t
available.
To get to the airport, many wealthy preppers keep swat style SUVS or motorcycles.
Of course, the vehicles are well maintained and the gas tanks are filled.
Basically at a moment’s notice, they can leave and outrun, run down or slip through
the great unwashed citizenry to make it to the airport to catch their ride to fancy,
secure digs.
Many of us have a go or emergency bag filled with a change of clothing, basic medical supplies,
some snacks, a little cash and maybe some important documents and beloved pictures on
a storage drive.
What do wealth preppers keep in their go bags?
Beyond the usual, they keep stacks of cash, flashbangs, guns, knives and bars of gold.
The thought being that they will be able to fight or bribe their way out of any situation
and maybe even convince people to help them get to their regional travel point.
So if the world undergoes a cataclysmic event, you can expect the very wealthy to survive,
but you probably can’t count on them to pitch in and lend a helping hand in fighting
off the zombie horde.
More likely they’re chilling in a luxury bunker somewhere, maybe with a supply of antibiotics
or other goods they can barter or sell at exorbitant prices once the initial event has
died down and people decide to venture outside.
There are a few billionaires who are pursuing space technology with an eye towards building
communities on Mars for when earth becomes unsustainable for humanity.
Though some claim to have altruistic motives, it remains yet to be seen if our ventures
on to another planet will end up being an escapist destination for the rich who can
afford it or a mass migration opportunity to sustain humans from all walks of life.
We want to give a huge thank you to today's sponsor Curiosity Stream
We know you love just as much as we do and
there's no better place to get the highest quality documentaries and
non-fiction titles, than on the streaming service created for those with a lifelong
quest to learn explore and understand
we just watched "How to Build a Castle" and not only did we learn a ton
Now we're ready to build one of our own
with thousands of videos across science, nature and more
You'll never run out of topics to explore.
you can get unlimited access for just $2.99 a month
or $19.99 a year and for viewers of the Infographics show
the first 30 days are completely free
if you sign up at Curiositystream.com/infographics
and use the code "Infographics"
If this video made you think and you want to
see more then click this video over here or go and click on this video!
Thanks and we’ll see you in the next video!