Swiss Alps become ultimate safe haven for billionaires’ priceless assets

A vast network of underground vaults is being carved into the Swiss Alps, offering wealthy clients a heavily fortified facility to store assets ranging from gold and valuable artworks to luxury cars and fine wine, New York Post reports.

The project is being developed beneath the Brünig Pass near the village of Lungern by Swiss businessman Thomas Gasser, chairman of Brünig Mega Safe.

The complex will feature around 20 private vaults buried more than 100 meters beneath solid rock. Developers say the natural underground setting will provide an additional layer of protection, with security standards expected to be comparable to those of the Swiss National Bank.

Access to the facility will be tightly controlled, with clients required to pass through multiple security checkpoints.

“You’ll first have to drive through a special checkpoint and get out of your vehicle: there will be several security checks, which obviously won’t be disclosed to the public,” Gasser told RTS.

Each underground vault is being offered on a 99-year lease, with prices starting at nearly 1 million Swiss francs, or around $1.23 million.

According to Gasser, clients will effectively own their individual parcels. “The advantage is that the client becomes the owner: they have their own parcel number in the land register and can even mortgage the property,” the developer said.

Construction is already underway, with the complex expected to open next year.

The site previously served a more conventional purpose. It housed Cantina Caverna, a restaurant and event venue, as well as a shooting range and a firefighter training facility designed to simulate tunnel fires.

The project has received mixed reactions from residents of Lungern. Some have questioned the need for a luxury bunker aimed at billionaires, with one resident saying, “they’re building something for people who already have enough money.”

Others have welcomed the development more lightheartedly, joking that they look forward to seeing Ferraris owned by their new bunker “neighbors” on the surrounding Alpine roads.

Switzerland already has a long history of storing valuables beneath its mountains, with former military bunkers repurposed as secure storage facilities and data centers.

In 2024, Swiss banks managed around 9.3 trillion Swiss francs in assets, roughly half of which originated abroad, according to Presence Switzerland.

The Brünig project, however, takes underground private storage to a new level, targeting wealthy clients from around the world seeking highly secure facilities for their most valuable possessions amid growing geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

By Vafa Guliyeva