Gina Rinehart

Chair and director of Hancock Prospecting

• Born: February 9, 1954
• Place of Birth: Perth, Australia

Education: University of Sydney (one year, 1973)

Background

Chair and director of Hancock Prospecting. Gina Rinehart was born Georgina Hope Hancock on February 9, 1954, in Perth, Western Australia. She was the only child of Australian iron-ore magnate Langley "Lang" Hancock and his second wife, Hope Margaret Nicholas. Rinehart lived in the remote West Australian town of Nunyerry for the first four years of her life before her family moved to Perth. She attended St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls in Perth for fifteen years, where she was a top student. In 1973, she attended the University of Sydney to study economics, but she dropped out after the first year, choosing instead to work for her father in the family iron-ore mining business.

Rinehart inherited Hancock Prospecting from her father upon his death in 1992 and has gone on to increase her wealth through joint ventures in the mining industry and through the purchase of stakes in various media organizations. Rinehart first appeared on Australia's list of richest people in 1992 and was named the richest woman in the country in 2010 and the richest person in the country the subsequent year—positions that she would continue to frequently hold over the years. She was Australia's first female billionaire.

Rinehart also became politically active, speaking out against several proposed environmental regulations and promoting the development of land in some of Australia's more remote areas. Additionally, Rinehart worked toward charitable causes, donating time and money to organizations in Cambodia that seek to help women and girls through educational scholarships and other initiatives.

Iron-Ore Magnate

After the death of her father in 1992, Rinehart inherited his business, Hancock Prospecting, and its royalty agreement with the London-based multinational mining corporation Rio Tinto Group. She was, therefore, often labeled as an heiress, although she consistently stated that the term was inaccurate, as Hancock Prospecting was in a state of debt when it passed to her. One of Rinehart's first actions as head of the company was to propose the development of the Hope Downs iron-ore mine (named after her mother), located in Western Australia's remote Pilbara region, in a joint venture with Rio Tinto. Despite initial troubles with infrastructure, that project played a key role in moving the company out of debt.

Rinehart was actively involved in running her company, spearheading its growth through various joint ventures. She branched into other mineral resources, most notably coal, as well as farming and ranching. In 2014, Hancock Prospecting saw its portfolio expand to include oil and gas holdings. The company also continued to develop its iron ore operations, for example, securing a $7.2 billion debt-funding package in March 2014 for the Roy Hill iron-ore mine in the Pilbara region. That mine began shipping output to Asian markets in 2015, becoming a key profit driver for the company.

In addition to her work in the mining industry, Rinehart expanded her holdings by acquiring stakes in media companies. In 2010, she bought a stake in Ten Network Holdings, worth 10 percent, and she later took an almost 15 percent stake in Fairfax Media. This made her the largest shareholder of Fairfax Media, though she did not sit on the board of the company.

With regard to personal wealth, Rinehart was first valued as a billionaire in 2006. The Australian magazine BRW first listed her as Australia's richest woman in 2010 and as Australia's richest person in 2011. In 2014, she ranked forty-sixth on Forbes magazine's list of the five hundred richest people in the world. Her position on such rankings would fluctuate over the years, particularly as the Australian mining sector experienced volatility, but she was consistently among Australia's richest people into the 2020s, often topping the list. In 2019 Forbes listed her as seventy-fifth on its list of world billionaires. In 2024, Rinehart had moved to the fifty-sixth position on the list with a net worth of $30.8 billion.

Legal and Political Dealings

Rinehart and her company were often involved in legal proceedings, and Rinehart herself earned a reputation as a fairly litigious individual. The death of her father prompted a lengthy court battle with her stepmother, Rose Porteous, concerning the circumstances of her father's death (which was later determined to be from natural causes) and ownership of his assets. In 2011, three of Rinehart's four children commenced legal action against her in an effort to remove her as the sole trustee of the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust, which was established by Lang Hancock for his grandchildren. In 2014, her third child, Hope Welker, formally withdrew from the case, but the others pressed on. In early 2019 Rinehart's petition to have the dispute with her children kept confidential was granted by a high court.

In 2010, Rinehart helped to fund a campaign protesting the Mineral Resource Rent Tax, which was passed in 2012 and levied a tax on profits generated from the exploitation of nonrenewable resources in Australia. She was generally conservative in her political views, supporting antitax groups and vocally denying the existence of anthropogenic climate change. Rinehart made repeated statements supporting the restriction of wages for working Australians and the relaxing of regulations to encourage foreign investment.

Her political stances have often placed her at odds with her country’s Indigenous peoples, who view her family business as exploitative of their ancestral land rights. In 2023, an Indigenous netball player refused to wear an advertising patch for Hancock Prospecting on his uniform, prompting Rinehart to pull her company’s sponsorship. In 2024, Rinehart asked the National Gallery of Australia to take down an exaggerated and unflattering portrait of her painted by the Indigenous artist Vincent Namatjira. The gallery refused.

In addition to her business and political actions, Rinehart donated time and money to organizations that seek to work against human trafficking.

Impact

As Australia's first female billionaire and one of the world's wealthiest individuals, Rinehart was influential both in the business sector and in Australian politics. Her family also earned attention and controversy both publicly and personally for legal squabbles, and Rinehart was known to speak out on the future of Australian business interests and political issues.

Bibliography

Bryant, Nick. "Gina Rinehart's Quest for Respect and Gratitude." Monthly, May 2012, www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2012/may/1340006623/nick-bryant/what-gina-wants. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.

Finnegan, William. "The Miner's Daughter." New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2013, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/03/25/the-miners-daughter. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.

Ferguson, Adele. Gina Rinehart: The Untold Story of the Richest Person in Australian History. Sydney: Pan Macmillan, 2012. Print.

“Gina Rinehart Demands National Gallery of Australia Remove Her Portrait." Guardian, 15 May 2024, www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/15/gina-rinehart-demands-national-gallery-of-australia-remove-her-portrait.  Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.

“World's Billionaires List.” Forbes, 2024, www.forbes.com/billionaires/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.

"Gina Rinehart Wins Right to Have Her Dispute with Children Heard in Private." The Guardian, 7 May 2019, www.theguardian.com/business/2019/may/08/gina-rinehart-wins-right-to-have-her-dispute-with-children-heard-in-private. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.

Heathcote, Andrew. "Gina Rinehart Wealth Swells as Family Split Lingers." Bloomberg, 2 Nov. 2019, www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-02/billionaire-gina-rinehart-wealth-swells-as-family-split-lingers. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.

Newton, Gloria. "Lang Hancock's Daughter Comes of Age." Australian Women's Weekly 19 Feb. 1975: 10–11. Print.