This country will do anything to make a buck

In its quest for cash, the tiny island nation of Nauru has tried it all. Its latest scheme may be its riskiest bet yet.

Christina Lu

Feb 16, 2024 – 5.00am

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If an apocalypse struck Earth, Sam Bankman-Fried – the billionaire tech entrepreneur behind the United States’ most explosive cryptocurrency scandal – wasn’t ready to die.

Like any responsible doomsday prepper, the now-convicted FTX founder hatched a survival plan. According to a memo between his brother and an FTX executive, Bankman-Fried planned to buy the Pacific island nation of Nauru and build a bunker that he could retreat to if a cataclysmic event wiped out at least half of the global population. Never mind, of course, that Nauru – a sovereign country – was never actually up for sale.

Foreign Policy