As uncertainty continues over the ongoing war with Iran, citizens in the U.S. and other impacted countries are worrying about the potential safety threats arising from the conflict. An increasing number of people are turning to bomb shelters to protect themselves from potential attacks. Even high-ranking members of the Trump administration are ordering protective bunkers, according to a top manufacturer.
Bunker manufacturer sees massive sales increase since the war with Iran started
Ron Hubbard, founder and owner of Atlas Survival Shelters, recently told The Telegraph that interest in his shelters has gone up “tenfold” since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in a conflict that is now entering its second week. Atlas builds a variety of shelters to protect against drone attacks or missiles, and even makes shelters for the event of nuclear war. Its products range from small $20,000 prefabricated shelters to massive $5 million underground facilities. Hubbard estimates that his sales will jump from an average of $2 million per month to $50 million next month. “Bunker building is like being a farmer,” Hubbard told The Telegraph. “When it’s time for harvest, you have to reap all you can.”
Trump cabinet members, CEOs seek shelter
Hubbard said he has a wide variety of clients, including two members of the Trump cabinet. Though he didn’t name which high-ranking administration officials have ordered shelters, he said, “One of them texted me yesterday, asking me: ‘When will my bunker be ready?’” Hubbard, no relation to Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, is a self-professed “very religious, Christian man” who believes the “end of times” is rapidly approaching. Hubbard, who attended a conference for executives at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort last year, said that most of his clients are “Christian, conservative CEOs.” His clients include billionaires and tech industry leaders; Facebook founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, for whom Atlas designed an underground bunker for his Hawaiian ranch, is one of the few members of Hubbard’s ultrawealthy clientele whom Hubbard revealed by name.
Growing bunker trend fueled by fears of catastrophe
The surge in interest in Hubbard’s shelters due to the war in Iran represents a spike in an already growing trend. Hubbard started the Texas-based Atlas in 2011, pivoting from manufacturing iron doors at a time when tech executives were increasingly building shelters for themselves, worried about the possibility of a catastrophic event or societal collapse. That trend has endured, with tech CEOs fearful of a cataclysmic “event” building large shelters, often in geographically remote parts of the world like Hawaii and New Zealand. The COVID-19 pandemic also led to a surge in bunker sales as people physically withdrew from society in the face of the deadly disease. The bunker trend is not limited to the United States. Many Israelis are regularly sheltering underground, even having “bunker parties” as Iran launches missiles and drones at the country during the ongoing conflict. In Dubai, where Atlas recently opened an office, two billionaires ordered shelters from the company after Iran targeted strikes there and elsewhere in the Middle East.
The war with Iran has raised demand for shelters amid growing dangers from the fighting and uncertainty over the long-term implications of the conflict. With the Trump administration and the Israeli government signaling that the war in Iran will continue and Iranian forces launching widespread attacks, people who can afford shelters are increasingly looking to protect themselves from worst-case scenarios. The idea that even Trump administration officials are engaged in such planning is a tremendous cause for concern.
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