Why are billionaires building bunkers?

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil and today we're joined by Hannah from the What in the World podcast.

Hey Neil! It's great to be back. So, Neil, do you think you're good at preparing for the future or for unexpected events?

Hmm... Reasonably good, I suppose. It depends what kind of event we're talking about.

All kinds of events. Now, I think I'm pretty organised, but I only have enough food to last me about a week. And today we're talking all about preppers. A prepper is someone who believes that disaster is likely to happen soon, and so they prepare for it. A prepper might learn survival skills or they might build a bunker – an underground shelter.

Yes, and recently, many famous billionaires from the tech industry have made the news for building luxury bunkers. So, what these bunkers need to do is to keep you safe from danger, but they're also like something out of a spy film. They're huge and they've got cool features, like gyms or home cinemas. They allow someone to live a comfortable life while staying safe from danger.

A very comfortable life. We're going to be talking about these luxury bunkers, the people building them and what they're so afraid of. But first, Neil, I've got a question for you. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is building a property in Hawaii which is reported to include a huge underground bunker. So, Neil, how much is he reportedly spending on the project? Is it: a) $10 million, b) $50 million, or c) $100 million?

Well, Hannah, I don't know, but he's a pretty rich guy so I think 100 million.

Well, I will reveal the answer at the end of the programme.

Hannah, you've been looking into these luxury bunkers, like the one Mark Zuckerberg is reported to be building, on What in the World. What have you discovered?

Well, I was joined by BBC reporter Nathalie Jimenez to talk about preppers, and I started off by asking whether she had ever considered building a bunker and preparing for disaster.

I love this question because I've actually been thinking about it for a while. Fun fact...

Have you? You're a prepper!

Yes! When you watch TV in the US – when you turn on a, kind of, US TV channel – what happens is that there's usually some ads about freeze-dried food. I'm not kidding. They pop up quite regularly and it's all about, kind of, the prepper mentality. What are you going to do when the apocalypse happens?

Nathalie has thought about building a bunker and getting prepared because she sees adverts for freeze-dried food that would last a long time, on TV in the US. When she talks about the adverts, she says, "I'm not kidding," which means, "I'm not joking."

Nathalie says that these adverts are part of the prepper mentality. A mentality is a person's way of thinking about things. So, the prepper mentality would mean thinking about things like a prepper.

Part of the prepper mentality is to question what you would do if the apocalypse happens. An apocalypse refers to a serious event which causes destruction and change.

So, lots of people do think about preparing for bad things. Nathalie's thought about it, and for tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, they're able to spend a lot of money preparing for disaster. So, do you think they know something we don't? What are they preparing for? Let's hear from Nathalie again, speaking to me on What in the World.

So, the reasons include nuclear tensions, AI risk, climate disaster – essentially any world-ending event. But secondly, it's also a mark of societal status. So, no matter what happens, no matter what comes our way, if you're a tech billionaire, you're going to be able to live through that comfortably without compromising your lifestyle, without compromising the standard that you have. So, because these tech billionaires are essentially building the future, the fact that they're so afraid of it, quote-unquote, is telling within itself.

So, while tech billionaires are worried about things like climate disaster or AI, Nathalie says that luxury bunkers are also a mark of social status, or status, as we would say in the UK. Someone's status is the amount of respect or importance given to them by other people.

With their bunkers, tech billionaires would be able to survive without compromising their luxury lifestyle. That means without lowering their standard of living.

OK. So, now I need to know the answer to that quiz question you gave me, Hannah.

Yes, Neil. So, my question was: Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, is building a property in Hawaii, which is said to include a huge underground bunker – how much is he reported to be spending on the project?

Well, I think I gave option c) which was $100 million.

You're right Neil! The property is said to include a large underground bunker, although Zuckerberg says it's just a little shelter.

OK. It's time to recap the language we've learnt during the programme, starting with prepper – someone who thinks disaster is likely to happen soon and so prepares for it.

Kidding means joking.

Your mentality is the way you think about things.

An apocalypse refers to a serious event which causes destruction and change.

Your status, or status, in society is the amount of respect and importance other people give you.

And if you compromise something, like your lifestyle, you lower the standard of it.

That's it for this episode of 6 Minute English. But Hannah, where can people find more What in the World?

Well, you can listen to us wherever you get your BBC podcasts, or you can watch us on the BBC World Service YouTube channel. Just search for What in the World in the studio, or click on the link in the notes for this programme.

And don't forget to test what you've learnt in this programme with the quiz on our

Goodbye! And if you're a prepper... good luck!