Picture the scene: the world runs out of food, there is no clean water and the banking system collapses - what do you do? Well, if you are a billionaire you jump on your private plane or helicopter or climb into your armoured car, and head to your bolthole to prepare for a new world order. And one place in particular, thousands of miles away from North Korea, ISIS and all the social tensions in Europe and the United States, is seen by some as the ideal 'safe' place for billionaires: New Zealand.
Peter Thiel, the billionaire behind PayPal, is among those tech giants who see New Zealand as a good place to go in the event of an apocalypse. He has bought a $13.5m 193-hectare section on the shores of Lake Wanaka - although the only building there at the moment is a barn. However, plans show he is fitting a panic room in another property he owns in the country and he has been granted New Zealand citizenship in a streamlined process not available to normal members of the public.
A rough and ready description of the attraction of New Zealand came last year in The New Yorker magazine, with LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman suggesting the country had become shorthand for apocalypse insurance in Silicon Valley. “Saying you’re ‘buying a house in New Zealand’ is kind of a ‘wink, wink, say no more’,” Hoffman said...CONTINUE READING
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