Gina Rinehart

Personal life Rinehart was born on 9 February 1954 at St John of God Subiaco Hospital in Perth, Western Australia. She is the only child of Hope Margaret Nicholas and Lang Hancock. Until age four, Rinehart lived with her parents at Nunyerry, north of Wittenoom. Her family then moved to Mulga Downs station in the Pilbara. Later Rinehart boarded at St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls in Perth. She briefly studied economics at the University of Sydney, before dropping out and working for her father, gaining an extensive knowledge of the Pilbara iron-ore industry. Rinehart rebuilt the HPPL company to become one of the most successful private companies in Australia's history. and Bianca Hope were born in 1976 and 1977 respectively. The couple separated in 1979 and divorced in 1981. Frank Rinehart died in 1990.

In 1999, the Western Australian state government approved a proposal to name a mountain range in honour of her family. Hancock Range is situated about north-west of the town of Newman at and commemorates the family's contribution to the establishment of the pastoral and mining industry in the Pilbara region.

In 2003, at age 27, Rinehart's son John changed his surname by deed poll from his birth name Hayward to Hancock, his maternal grandfather's name. Since 2014, Rinehart has had a difficult relationship with her son, John; and was not present at his wedding to Gemma Ludgate. John's sister, Bianca Hope Rinehart, who was once positioned to take over the family business, served as a director of Hancock Prospecting and HMHT Investments until 31 October 2011, when she was replaced by her half-sister, Ginia Rinehart. In 2013, Bianca married her partner Sasha Serebryako in Hawaii, but Rinehart did not attend the wedding.

In May 2024, Rinehart demanded that an "unflattering" portrait of herself by Indigenous artist Vincent Namatjira be removed from display at the National Gallery of Australia.

For over 13 years Rinehart was involved in a legal dispute over mining royalties. The case stemmed from old agreement between her father, Lang Hancock, and his business partner Peter Wright, over shared mining interests managed under a business called Hanwright. Wright's heirs argued they were entitled to mining rights and royalties. In a separate dispute, Rinehart's children claimed she had restructured the assets to deny them access to the family wealth. In 2026, the Supreme Court of Western Australia ruled that Rinehart retained ownership of the mining rights, but must share a portion of royalties, with 50% of certain payments awarded to the Wright family and partial entitlements granted to other claimants. The court rejected the claims by her children over ownership rights. Gina Rinehart was appointed to run the trust until the youngest of her four children, Ginia Rinehart, turned 25 in 2011. The Trust owns 23.6% of the shares in Hancock Prospecting, and was believed to be valued at about 5 billion. The action sought to remove Rinehart as sole trustee. Her brother, John, and sister, Bianca, were later revealed as parties to the dispute.

In an agreement reached between the parties, the Court granted an interim non-publication order in September 2011. In making the interim order, Justice Paul Brereton stated: "This is not the first occasion of discord in the family, which has immense wealth, no small part of which resides in the trust. In the past, the affairs of the family, including such discord, has attracted considerable publicity in the media." Then, in a judgement handed down on 7 October 2011, Justice Brereton stated that he intended to dismiss an application by Rinehart, that there be a stay on court action, and that the family be directed into mediation. In December 2011, three justices of the NSW Court of Appeal lifted the suppression orders on the case. However, a stay was granted until 3 February 2012 and extended by the High Court of Australia until 9 March 2012. Rinehart's application for suppression was supported by Ginia Rinehart, but was opposed by Hope, John and Bianca. A subsequent application by Rinehart for a non-publication order on the grounds of fear of personal and family safety was dismissed by the NSW Supreme Court on 2 February 2012. In March 2012, when the suppression order was lifted, it was revealed that Rinehart had delayed the vesting date of the trust, which had prompted the court action by her three older children.

Rinehart stood down as trustee during the hearing in October 2013. While Rinehart's lawyers subsequently declared any legal matters closed, John and Bianca's legal representatives proceeded with a trial in the NSW Supreme Court to deal with allegations of misconduct. The Court handed down its decision on 28 May 2015 in which Bianca was appointed as the new trustee.

Business career

After the death of her father in March 1992, Rinehart became Executive Chairman of Hancock Prospecting Pty Limited (HPPL) and the HPPL Group of companies. All companies within the group are privately owned. With the notable exception of receiving a royalty stream from Hamersley Iron since the late 1960s, Lang Hancock's mining activities were mainly related to exploration and the accumulation of vast mining leases. The BBC journalist, Nick Bryant, argues that while Rinehart was a beneficiary of her father's royalty deals, she "transformed the family business by spotting, earlier than most, the vast potential of the China market."

Rinehart achieved the Roy Hill tenements in 1993, the year after her father's death, having applied for them five months after her father's death, and focused on developing Roy Hill and Hancock Prospective undeveloped deposits, raising capital through joint venture partnerships and turning the leases into revenue producing mines. After receiving approval from the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment in 2012, these coal projects were subsequently not developed. The Roy Hill Iron ore project, south of Port headline, in the Pilbara produces 60 million tonnes a year, with approvals pending to reach 70 million tonnes per annum.

In 2010, Rinehart took a 10 per cent stake in Ten Network Holdings; James Packer had acquired an 18 per cent stake in the same company shortly before. Since then she also acquired a substantial stake in Fairfax Media. Rinehart was a major player in the media and no longer limits her interests to the mining business. In February 2012 she increased her stake in Fairfax to over 12 per cent, and became the largest shareholder of the company. Fairfax journalists were reportedly fearful that she wanted to turn them into a "mouthpiece for the mining industry". In June 2012, she increased her stake further to 18.67 per cent, and was believed to be seeking three board seats and involvement in editorial decisions in Fairfax's newspaper division. Negotiations between Fairfax and Hancock Prospecting broke down in late June because of disagreements over Fairfax's editorial independence policy and other issues relating to board governance; chairman Roger Corbett subsequently announced that Rinehart would not be offered any seats on the board. After failing to get board representation she sold her shareholding in 2015.

In 2015, Rinehart was listed as the 37-most-powerful woman in the world by Forbes; a decline from her 2014 and 2013 rankings as the 27- and the 16-most-powerful woman, respectively. In 2023, she ranked 48th in Forbes list of "World's 100 most powerful women".

Later the same year, Rinehart acquired Fossil Downs Station after it was placed on the market for the first time in 133 years. The property was stocked with 15,000 head of cattle and the sale price was not disclosed, but it was estimated to be between 25 to 30 million. Rinehart had acquired a 50% stake in Liveringa and Nerrima Stations in 2014 for 40 million.

In a 1984 television interview, Rinehart's late father Lang Hancock suggested forcing unemployed indigenous Australians − specifically "the ones that are no good to themselves, who can't accept things, the half-castes" − to collect their welfare cheques from a central location. And when they had gravitated there, I would dope the water up so that they were sterile and would breed themselves out in the future, and that would solve the problem." Rinehart was dragged in controversy in 2022, when she declined to apologize for the comments her father made. Hancock Prospecting subsequently withdrew an 15 million sponsorship from Netball Australia after Indigenous netballer Donnell Wallam voiced concerns about the deal and the impact of the comments, pertaining to a genocide, by "poisoning" and "sterilising" Indigenous Australians to "solve the problem"; as well as concerns about the company's environmental record.

In June 2021, Little Green Pharma, a medical cannabis company, revealed Rinehart had invested $15 million. This gave Hancock Prospecting a 10% stake in Little Green Pharma. Rinehart was described by LGP's founder as "supportive, loyal and really involved" and the funding assisted LGP in purchasing additional infrastructure in Denmark and expand its business overseas.

In April 2024, Rinehart revealed a 5.82% stake in Lynas Rare Earths and a 5.3% holding in MP Materials. Lynas and MP Materials produce rare earth materials, an industry dominated by China which produces 60 percent of the world's rare earth.

Rinehart, through her company Northback Holdings Corporation, has been embroiled in legal disputes concerning the Grassy Mountain Coal Project in the Ranchland, Alberta, Canada. This project, initially proposed by Benga Mining Limited (Benga)now Northback Holdings Corporationfaced significant opposition. In their 17 June 2021 final report, the joint provincial-federal review panel composed of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) denied Benga Mining's application for the Grassy Mountain Coal Project because of significant adverse environmental effects, particularly regarding selenium contamination in local waterways. Despite these setbacks, Rinehart's company has continued to pursue the project, claiming that the AER treated them unfairly by allowing new applications for exploratory drilling after the initial rejection. In response to the AER's decisions, Rinehart has filed multiple lawsuits against both the Alberta and Canadian governments, arguing that the regulatory process has been biased against her interests. The Alberta Court of Appeal has recently questioned the AER's decision to classify Grassy Mountain as an "advanced coal project," which could potentially revive Rinehart's plans. The ongoing legal battles reflect broader tensions between resource development interests and environmental protection in Alberta, with local ranchers and environmental advocates opposing the mine due to its potential impact on water security and land use. She also had some involvement with the Workers Party (later renamed the Progress Party), a libertarian organisation founded by businessman John Singleton.

Rinehart opposed the Rudd government's Mineral Resource Rent Tax and Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme as part of a group of mining magnates that included Andrew Forrest. She founded the lobby group ANDEV, ("Australians for Northern Development and Economic Vision") and has sponsored the trips of prominent climate change denier Christopher Monckton to Australia. In October 2021, Rinehart garnered controversy after expressing climate change denialist views during a speech at her childhood primary school.

Since 2010 Rinehart has been actively promoting the cause of development of Australia's north and has spoken, written articles and published a book on this topic. Rinehart stresses that Australia must do more to welcome investment and improve its cost competitiveness, particularly when Australia faces record debt. She advocates a special economic zone in the North with reduced taxation and less regulations and has enlisted the support of many prominent Australians, plus the Institute of Public Affairs. In a 2012 article in the Australian Resources and Investment Magazine, Rinehart said that if people wanted to have more money they should "stop whingeing" and "Do something to make more money yourself − spend less time drinking or smoking and socialising, and more time working". She criticised what she saw as the "socialist" policies of the Australian Government of "high taxes" and "excessive regulation".

In a video posted to the Sydney Mining Club's YouTube channel on 23 August 2012, Rinehart expressed concern for Australia's economic competitiveness, noting how "Indeed if we competed in the Olympic Games as sluggishly as we compete economically, there would be an outcry." She said, "Furthermore, Africans want to work, and its workers are willing to work for less than two dollars a day. Such statistics make me worry for this country's future." The Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer at the time, Wayne Swan, described Rinehart's statement as an "insult to the millions of Australian workers who go to work and slog it out to feed the kids and pay the bills."

In 2010 and 2012, Rinehart lobbied for Australia to bring in more foreign workers. She is a supporter of Donald Trump, and is a supporter and funder of Pauline Hanson's One Nation.

Net worth Rinehart is one of Australia's richest people, with Forbes estimating her net worth in 2019 at 14.8 billion as published in the list of Australia's 50 richest people,

In 2007, she first appeared on Forbes Asia Australia's 40 Richest, with an estimated wealth of 1 billion; doubled again in 2012 to 18 billion; , Forbes had assessed her net worth as 30.8 billion, and was ranked as the 56th of the global list of Forbes billionaires; and the wealthiest Australian billionaire.

In June 2011, Citigroup estimated that she was on course to overtake Carlos Slim, the Mexican magnate worth 74 billion and Bill Gates, who is worth 56 billion, mainly because she owns her companies outright. Using a price-to-earnings ratio of 11:1 that applied at that time to her business partner, Rio Tinto, the Australian internet business news service, SmartCompany, stated: "It is possible to see Rinehart's portfolio of coal and iron ore production spinning off annual profits approaching 10 billion", giving her a "personal net worth valuation of more than 100 billion".

In January 2012, there were further media reports that Rinehart's estimated wealth has increased to 20 billion following estimates that the Roy Hill project was notionally valued at 10 billion. Forbes magazine ranked her as the fourth-richest woman in 2012 with 18 billion; the fifth-richest woman in 2013 with 17 billion; and the sixth-richest woman in 2014 with 17.6 billion. In 2012, BRW estimated her wealth at 29.17 billion, with Ivan Glasenberg being her closest rival, with net wealth estimated at 7.4 billion. At the time, BRW stated that it was possible Rinehart would become the first person with a net wealth of 100 billion. , according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Rinehart was the 37th-richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of 18.6 billion.

Rinehart's wealth rankings between 2013 and 2019 were adversely impacted by the fall in the wholesale iron ore price and the fall in the AUD/USD exchange rate. By 2020, according to The Australian Financial Review, Rinehart had an estimated net worth of 28.89 billion and was restored to the mantle of the wealthiest Australian;

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2024 Rinehart is publicly known for visiting girls' orphanages in Cambodia and is on the expert advisory board of SISHA, a Cambodian non-profit organisation campaigning against human trafficking, in particular by rescuing and assisting sexually exploited women and children.

In 2012 Swimming Australia announced a $10 million funding arrangement over four years with the Georgina Hope Foundation in conjunction with Hancock Prospecting. The deal supports the Australian Swim Team through direct payments to elite and targeted development swimmers, as well supporting lesser known sports such as synchronised swimming. The arrangement was renewed for a further two years in August 2015 and includes naming rights to various Swimming Australia events, including the Australian Swimming Championships. In 2019, the sporting group described Rinehart as "part of [the] team" and "part of the swimming family."

Awards and recognitions Bond University awarded Rinehart an honorary doctorate in 2013 "in recognition of her commitment and contribution to the Australian economy and wider community."

In 2022, Rinehart was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2022 Australia Day Honours for "distinguished service to the mining sector, to the community through philanthropic initiatives, and to sport as a patron".

In 2025, Forbes listed her 52nd amongst World's 100 most powerful women.