home

tech

UK

world

sport

football

opinion

culture

business

lifestyle

fashion

environment

Technology The Observer

Silicon Valley super-rich head south to escape from a

global apocalypse
Anxious Americans are buying into New Zealand as the perfect bolt-hole

Lake Wanaka harbour on New Zealands South Island. Photograph: Alamy

Hayden Donnell Auckland

Sunday 29 January 2017 00.05 GMT

t the Republican party convention in Cleveland last July, Trump donor Peter
Thiel declared himself most of all, proud to be an American. So it came as
something of a surprise for New Zealanders to discover that the PayPal co-founder
and Facebook board member had become an honorary Kiwi joining a growing
band of wealthy Americans seeking a haven from a possible global apocalypse.
Thiel was recently revealed to have bought a 4.5m lakeside property near the
New Zealand town of Wanaka in 2015. When New Zealand Herald reporter Matt
Nippert asked why Thiel had been allowed to buy land that appears to fit the
classification of sensitive without permission from the countrys Overseas
Investment Office, he was told it wasnt necessary Thiel was already a citizen.
The revelation was met with confusion. By the time of his appearance at the
Republican convention, Thiel had already bought 193 hectares of pristine South
Island land using his rights as a Kiwi. Politicians asked why a billionaire most
famous for adamantly supporting Donald Trump and bankrolling the lawsuits
that bankrupted Gawker Media had been allowed not only to buy land in New
Zealand, but to make the country part of his future and identity. Winston Peters,
leader of the New Zealand First party, accused the National government of
selling citizenship to foreigners.
Thiel, who retains his American citizenship, in fact became a joint US-New
Zealand citizen in 2011 and has described the country as Utopia, i nvesting
heavily in business start-ups.

travel
all

And he isnt alone in his admiration for the country. Recent reports in Bloomberg
and the New Yorker suggest dozens, if not hundreds, of Silicon Valley futurists are
secretly prepping for doomsday. These apocalypse-fearing survivalists are
stocking up on canned goods. Investing in solid gold currency. Keeping
helicopters fuelled up. Purchasing apartments in nuclear bomb-proof bunkers.
And if a SHTF (shit hits the fan) scenario unfolds, many have an escape route
already in mind: south, south, all the way to New Zealand.

Peter Thiel has described New Zealand as Utopia and invested heavily in business start-ups in the country.
Photograph: Roger Askew/REX/Shutterstock

If you want to ride out the apocalypse, theres no better place. When the rest of
the world is imploding, isolation often thought to be New Zealands greatest
weakness becomes its biggest strength. The island nation is too far away to
invade, separated from its nearest neighbour by the 2,800km width of the
Tasman Sea. Its most serious predator is the possum. If its a political revolution
you fear, the climate is a far cry from the intractable antagonism of the US. One
recent parliamentary debate featured Mori party leader Marama Fox singing a
light-hearted politicised version of Santa Baby, accompanied by her colleague on
ukulele. Everyone stood up to applaud afterwards.
Tech leaders seem particularly smitten by New Zealands reputed immunity to
Armageddon. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman told the New Yorker that
mentioning the country had become a sort of code in Silicon Valley. Saying
youre buying a house in New Zealand is kind of a wink, wink, say no more, he
said.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Robert Johnson, president of

the Institute for New Economic Thinking, said that he knew hedge-fund
managers all over the world who are buying airstrips and farms in places like New
Zealand because they think they need a getaway.
One entrepreneur estimated 50% of his peers have bought property in New
Zealand or elsewhere. Figures from 2016 show that US buyers were second only
to Australians in the amount of New Zealand land they purchased. In the year to
June last year, 1,288 Americans gained residence in New Zealand, while another
11,873 were issued work or student visas.
People want to get the hell out of where they are, and they feel that New Zealand
is safe, Auckland immigration agent David Cooper told Bloomberg, adding that
the country is a good spot to be in when the world is going to hell in a
handbasket.
Graham Wall, whose firm Graham Wall Real Estate sold a mansion to Thiel in the
tourist hub of Queenstown in 2011, says wealthy overseas buyers see New
Zealand as an escape from a volatile world. Though none of his clients has
explicitly described their purchase as apocalypse insurance, theyre attracted to
the countrys benign legislative environment, lack of corruption and, most of all,
its isolation.
Usually when people are being honest about why, theyll say the difference New
Zealand probably has over everywhere else on Earth is that we can choose our
own immigration, he says. If youre in New Zealand, then youve been invited
in. I think thats quite a compelling thing for people when they feel a bit unsafe.
Wealthy US buyers now account for roughly one in 12 of the properties Wall sells
double the amount six months ago. The buyers are driven mainly by the ability
to play golf or ride mountain bikes at the weekend. Theyre not like man, the
worlds going to end. But its just, the political environment is uncertain, he
says.
Anxiety over the new US president appears to have many Americans investigating
a shift to New Zealand and not just Silicon Valley survivalists. In the 48 hours
after Trump was elected, New Zealand immigration websites saw a 2,500%
increase in traffic. Immigration New Zealand received 88,353 visits from the US
up from 2,300 visits a day. The investor-focused New Zealand Now website
received 101,000 visits from the US in the same two-day period, compared with
its usual daily average of 1,500. Nearly 18,000 US citizens ended up using the
website to register an interest in studying, working or investing in New Zealand in
November 2016 up from 1,272 in November 2015.
Steve McGill, who heads the Immigration New Zealand team charged with
attracting overseas investors, is hopeful Trumps election will prompt more
nervous ultra-rich to make the journey south. Theres obviously been a political
event in the States thats seen at least our website taking a lot of extra interest,
he says. He sees the uptick as a big opportunity. Its exciting for New Zealand.
Under Immigration New Zealands Investor Plus scheme, foreign buyers can gain
permanent residency status which confers some power to buy property if they
invest NZ$10m (5.8m) in the country over three years, and live there for at least
44 days in two of those years. The department doesnt care whether migrants are
just trying to doomsday-proof their lives, provided they meet its standards,
McGill says.
I guess one of the great and appealing things about New Zealand is our freedom
of expression and our right to free speech. We dont have any criteria in our policy
that says to us dont let a survivalist in. If they believe the apocalypse is coming,
thats fine. But they still need to achieve a certain set of criteria.

Not everyone is so optimistic. Iain Lees-Galloway, immigration spokesman for

New Zealands opposition Labour party, says government rules should discourage
non-resident foreigners from buying properties out of fear. I think this sort of
insurance policy approach is problematic, he says.
Galloway can understand people wanting to move to New Zealand whether
theyre backlash-fearing Trump supporters, or just worried about some kind of
societal breakdown. But he wants new rules limiting government ministers
ability to grant citizenship and thus the right to purchase sensitive land to
influential investors like Thiel. That should be accompanied by a ban on nonresident foreign buyers driving up house prices by purchasing existing properties,
he says.
The truth is there is a lot of instability around the world. New Zealand is
perceived as a very stable, very safe, very friendly country, so I can imagine that
not just wealthy people but all kinds of people will be looking at New Zealand and
thinking, Id like to live there. We need to be able to respond to that and say we
are going to do this on our terms. We are going to respond to the new reality on
our terms.
For Graham Wall, that political uncertainty is a cause for celebration if it drives
more investors to New Zealand and on to the books of his real-estate firm. The
wealthy are always welcome, whether they see your country as a paradise or a
glorified doomsday bunker, he says. Even if theyre fleeing the horsemen of the
apocalypse, at least theyre carrying cash in hand.
Its all part of a trend. They used to buy villas in the south of France. Now they
want a beautiful piece of New Zealand. Long may it last.

More features

Topics

Silicon Valley

New Zealan

View all comments >

most viewed
UK
education

media

society

law

scotland

wales

northern ireland

world
europe

US

americas

asia

australia

africa

middle east

cities

development

sport
football

cricket

rugby union

F1

tennis

golf

cycling

boxing

racing

rugby league

football
live scores

tables

competitions

results

fixtures

clubs

opinion
columnists

culture
film

tv & radio

music

games

books

art & design

stage

classical

business
economics

banking

retail

markets

eurozone

lifestyle
food

health & fitness

love & sex

family

women

home & garden

fashion
environment
climate change

wildlife

energy

pollution

tech
travel
UK

europe

US

skiing

money
property

savings

pensions

borrowing

careers

science

science
professional networks
the observer
today's paper
editorials & letters

obituaries

g2

weekend

the guide

saturday review

sunday's paper
comment

the new review

observer magazine

membership
crosswords
blog

editor

quick

cryptic

prize

quiptic

genius

speedy

everyman

azed

video
technology

silicon valley

Sign up to our daily email

Email address
Sign up

facebook
twitter
all topics
all contributors
solve technical issue
complaints & corrections
terms & conditions
privacy policy
cookie policy
securedrop
2017 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.