There's a Bunker Hiding $10M Somewhere in Utah

In 2013, the CEO of retail website Overstock.com revealed the company owned "some precious metals and maybe some Bitcoin" that could prove helpful in case of a shutdown of the banking system. That was a bit of an understatement. CEO Patrick Byrne tells Buzzfeed the Utah company actually has $10.3 million—$6 million in gold and $4.3 million in silver—hidden somewhere in the state so that it can continue to pay employees during an economic collapse. It also keeps thousands of emergency preparation kits and enough food to feed 2,000 employees and their families for 30 to 60 days, reports the New York Post. "I want a system that can survive a three-month freeze," Byrne tells Buzzfeed. Where exactly is this stash? Somewhere in a storage bunker, or bunkers, in Utah. To clarify, "we don't walk around with guns or something. We're not preppers," Byrne tells the Post, referring to the named used for those "prepping" for the apocalypse.

But "so many signs tell me this country has lost its way, with a bankrupt business model," he adds, citing near-zero interest rates, the deficit, and poor-quality jobs. "If there's a financial system meltdown, if the Internet shuts down and credit cards shut down, we can pay people." He likens it to an insurance policy, "with a 5% chance of paying off." The store is a bit controversial considering Overstock lost $2.1 million in Q3, yet is investing $100 million in a new headquarters and $8 million in a Bitcoin stock exchange, notes the Post. (Last year, Overstock became the first online retailer to accept Bitcoin, notes Business Insider.) Still, Byrne's employees are apparently pleased. "A lot of people here liked that we did this for them," he says. "It's a very safe place to be if something happens." (Maybe he might want to buy this pricey bunker in Georgia, complete with its own power station.)