Controversial internet personalities Andrew and Tristan Tate are building a USD 3.9 million underground complex in Bucharest, according to the contractor, Ron Hubbard, a well-known bunker builder, as quoted by The Times. The two influencers, accused of rape and human trafficking in Romania and the United Kingdom, have reportedly commissioned a ten-bedroom bunker, complete with separate living spaces and a recreation room with a stripper pole.
Despite the accusations the two brothers face, Hubbard praised Tristan Tate for The Times. His brother Andrew, on the other hand, is “in his own world. He is OG [Original Gangster]. You can’t talk to OG,” the Texas entrepreneur said.
The two brothers are not the only customers of Hubbard’s company, Atlas Survival Shelters. For billionaires and influencers, bunkers have become a new type of luxury collectible.
However, the bunkers are no joke. Some are equipped with gas-resistant, steel-reinforced doors, filtration systems, escape hatches, solar panels, and more.
Demand for bunkers increased after the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but also after the US strikes against Iran.
“News scares people,” says Hubbard. “If Trump makes peace with Putin and Putin aligns, it’s bad for business, but it’s good for the world,” the entrepreneur explained.
Atlas now builds about 300 bunkers a year at its factory in Sulphur Springs, Texas, the largest facility dedicated to nuclear shelters on Earth. Hubbard has 50 full-time workers who cut and weld modular steel frames, then outfit them with plumbing, electricity, beds, flooring, and air-conditioning systems.
The bunkers range from USD 20,000 steel capsules to custom concrete complexes costing more than USD 5 million.
Hubbard is willing to talk about certain clients who have made their purchases public. In 2023, he designed a 186-square-meter shelter for Mark Zuckerberg, worth USD 270 million, at his Hawaii property.
The Meta owner is not an outlier. An 2023 survey estimated that Americans spent USD 11 billion on doomsday preparations in a single year. Nearly one in three respondents reported having made an apocalyptic plan.
(Photo source: LCVA | Dreamstime.com)
Leave a Reply