Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire founder of Facebook and the sixth richest man in the world, according to Forbes, is not known for throwing money around frivolously. In fact, his favourite everyday outfit is a simple T-shirt paired with jeans, both of which an average Walmart shopper could easily access. But in this one project, however, Zuckerberg is pulling all stops. He has been in the news for building for himself and his family, a ginormous piece of real estate that makes the Buckingham Palace look like a playpen. Koolau Ranch, a highly secretive $270 million compound, is situated on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
Spread over a whooping 1,400 acres, the ranch has been designed to function as a largely self-sustaining fortress. Reports describe multiple residential structures, sophisticated surveillance systems, independent food and energy supplies, and a massive underground bunker intended to withstand major disruptions.
Whether Zuckerberg is genuinely preparing for societal collapse is ultimately beside the point. What matters is that he is hardly alone.
Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist whose political patronage helped propel JD Vance to the White House, has openly discussed apocalypse preparedness and purchased property in New Zealand, partly because of its geographic remoteness from global instability. Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, has also spoken publicly about stockpiling supplies and preparing for technological upheaval.
