Mark Zuckerberg building ‘Bond villain’ bunker in Hawaii

The billionaire Meta CEO has bought swathes of land on the island of Kauai and has begun a construction project shrouded in secrecy.

The project on the island of Kauai has angered locals. Picture composite: The Times

Mark Zuckerberg is said to be building a $US100 million ($149m) Hawaii compound that includes an underground bunker with its own food and energy sources.

The billionaire chief executive of Meta has bought large areas of land on the island of Kauai and has begun a construction project shrouded in secrecy.

Workers on the project have been made to sign strict non-disclosure agreements and those who violate the terms are sacked, according to Wired.

Nonetheless details have leaked out, suggesting that Zuckerberg, 39, is building a sprawling complex that could serve as a post-apocalyptic refuge in case of a collapse of civilisation.

The complex, which is partially completed, consists of more than a dozen buildings with at least 30 bedrooms and 30 bathrooms, according to Wired. It includes two mansions with a total floor area similar to that of an American football field. The compound features an industrial-sized kitchen, offices and conference rooms while a nearby wooded area is reminiscent of a James Bond villain’s lair.

Mark Zuckerberg with his third child in 2023.

There are said to be plans for 11 disc-shaped tree houses connected by rope bridges to allow Zuckerberg and his guests to stay in the treetops.

Perhaps most striking of all, however, are the proposals for a self-sufficient underground bunker.

The two central mansions will be joined by a tunnel, according to plans viewed by Wired. The underground corridor will allow access to a 465sq m bunker that includes a living space, a mechanical room and an escape hatch that can be accessed via a ladder.

The door to the shelter will be made of metal and filled with concrete – a method common in bomb shelters.

Amid various global crises, Zuckerberg, who according to Forbes has a net worth of $US118 billion, appears to be planning for the worst-case scenario.

His bunker will be self-sufficient, with its own water tank, and the compound is already producing a variety of food across its 567ha through ranching and agriculture.

Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, spent a reported $US170 million buying the land, as well as the dollars 100 million construction costs. That would make it one of the costliest personal construction projects ever.

A spokeswoman for the couple said they were working to protect endangered or threatened wildlife on the island. Picture: AFP

The Zuckerbergs say it will be the site of their family home for them and their three children.

Workers told Wired that colleagues who had violated their NDAs – including by posting about the project on social media – had been dismissed immediately.

“It’s Fight Club. We don’t talk about Fight Club,” a former employee using the pseudonym of David said, referring to the 1999 film. “Anything posted from here, they get wind of it right away.”

Brandi Hoffine Barr, a spokeswoman for the Zuckerbergs, declined to comment on the reports of a bunker, according to Wired. She said that the family were working with conservationists to protect endangered or threatened wildlife in Hawaii and that the family were “committed to preserving the ranch’s natural beauty”.

Zuckerberg is not the only tech billionaire apparently planning for end times. Peter Thiel, an early investor in Facebook, and Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, have an agreement to fly to Thiel’s properties in New Zealand in case of an apocalyptic event, according to The New Yorker.

The Times