'Mainly wire transfers': Inside the secretive and lucrative business of doomsday bunkers

In the business of selling pre-made doomsday bunkers, it pays to be discreet.

“The people [who] buy bunkers don’t like the government or their neighbor knowing they’ve bought a bunker. Ron Hubbard, President of Atlas Survival Shelters, told Yahoo Finance about his customers (video above). “So when we sell somebody a shelter, most of the time, almost every time, we don’t ask their name.”

That same discretion manifests in the preferred payment methods as well.

“I would say 90% of clients are just paying cash for the shelter,” Hubbard said at in an interview in northern Dallas, Texas. When pressed later, he said it’s actually “more like 100%.”

How exactly?

“Mainly wire transfers,” Hubbard said at his facility in northern Dallas, Texas. “Not checks because they don't want to government or the bank to be able to see they're buying a shelter.”

In front of 10 x 36 bunker. (Photo: Yahoo Finance)
Ron Hubbard in front of a 10 x 36 bunker. (Photo: Yahoo Finance)

You know the door in [Youtuber] Jake Paul’s mansion?’

Hubbard is the type of character who continually gave us his cell phone to record 45-second videos of him in bunkers to send to potential clients.

And each clip starts out: “Hi Cynthia ... Hi Peggy ... This one right here has the HVAC/plumbing/dishwasher/wine-cooler you wanted ...”

Hubbard is a sort of hustler. He started Atlas Survival Shelters five years ago ago after cheap, imported doors from China began to put his custom door shop out of business.

“You know the door in [You Tube star] Jake Paul’s mansion?” Hubbard, a smooth self-promoted, told us unsolicited. “Yeah I made that. He wanted the bubble design just like that.”

Jake Paul in front of the door that Hubbard says he made. (Photo: screenshot/Jake Paul/ YouTube)
Jake Paul in front of the door that Hubbard says he made. (Photo: screenshot/Jake Paul/ YouTube)

‘People over 40 have savings’

Hubbard’s journey as a bunker salesman began when a friend first introduced him to survival bunkers and Hubbard noticed how poorly the doors were made.

“A lot of other companies don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to air and water sealants for their structures,” Hubbard said. It’s a major flaw. I thought I could do them better. Then I just thought I could make the entire survival kit and sell that.”

Hubbard’s instinct tuned out to be lucrative: He said the Dallas facility will be the world’s largest bunker warehouse when it’s fully open. (He owns another warehouse in California in California.)

In front of 10 x 36 bunker  video.yahoofinance.com
A look at bunkers in a warehouse. (Photo: Yahoo Finance)

Another part of the success of Atlas Survival Shelters is the prices. The bunkers are usually significantly below competitors’ prices for similar inventory. Hubbard said his entry level pre-made bunker goes for $25,000. And this is— believe it or not— relatively low cost, considering the demographic that usually buys doomsday bunkers.

“You gotta keep in mind the average age of somebody buying a shelter is over 40,” Hubbard noted. “And people over 40 have savings.”