Gina Rinehart facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gina Rinehart
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Rinehart in 2015
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| Born |
Georgina Hope Hancock
9 February 1954 Perth, Western Australia
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| Education | St Hilda's School |
| Occupation | Mining magnate; company chairwoman, heiress. |
| Board member of | Hancock Prospecting |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children | 4, including John Hayward-Hancock |
| Parents |
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Georgina Hope Rinehart (born Hancock on February 9, 1954) is an Australian billionaire and a powerful leader in the mining industry. She is the executive chairwoman of Hancock Prospecting, a company that finds and mines minerals. The company was started by her father, Lang Hancock.
Rinehart was born in Perth, Western Australia. She spent her early years in a region called the Pilbara. After attending St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls, she studied at the University of Sydney. She left university to work with her father at his company. As Lang Hancock's only child, she took over as chairwoman when he passed away in 1992.
Under her leadership, Hancock Prospecting grew much larger. Thanks to a boom in iron ore prices in the early 2000s, she became a billionaire. In the 2010s, she also invested in other areas, like television networks and farming, buying several large cattle stations.
Gina Rinehart is the richest person in Australia. In 2012, her wealth was so great that she was named the world's richest woman for a time. Her fortune changes with the mining industry, but she has been Australia's wealthiest person for many years. By May 2023, her net worth was estimated to be over A$37 billion. Forbes magazine has often listed her as one of the world's most powerful women.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Gina Rinehart was born on February 9, 1954, in Perth, Western Australia. She was the only child of Hope and Lang Hancock. For the first four years of her life, she lived in a remote area north of Wittenoom. Later, her family moved to a large property called Mulga Downs station.
For school, Rinehart went to St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls in Perth. She then went to the University of Sydney to study economics. However, she decided to leave her studies to work alongside her father. This gave her a deep understanding of the iron ore industry in the Pilbara region. She used this knowledge to build her family's company into one of Australia's most successful private businesses.
Family Life
In 1973, when she was 19, Rinehart married Greg Milton. They had two children, John and Bianca. The couple later separated in 1979. In 1983, she married Frank Rinehart, a successful lawyer. They had two daughters, Hope and Ginia. Frank Rinehart passed away in 1990.
After her father's death in 1992, there was a long legal disagreement between Rinehart and her step-mother, Rose Porteous, over the family business. The dispute took 14 years to resolve.
In 2003, Rinehart's son John changed his last name to Hancock to honor his grandfather. In recent years, Rinehart has had a difficult relationship with some of her children.
In recognition of her family's importance to the mining industry, a mountain range in Western Australia was named the Hancock Range in 1999.
Business Career
Leading Hancock Prospecting
After her father's death in 1992, Gina Rinehart became the Executive Chairman of Hancock Prospecting. While her father was known for discovering mineral deposits, Rinehart focused on turning those discoveries into working mines. She saw the huge opportunity to sell iron ore to China and worked to make the family business a global success.
She focused on developing major projects like Roy Hill. To do this, she partnered with other companies to raise money and build the mines.
Major Mining Projects
Hancock Prospecting has several major mining operations.
- Hope Downs: The company owns 50% of the Hope Downs mines, which are operated by the global mining company Rio Tinto. These mines produce 47 million tonnes of iron ore every year.
- Roy Hill: This is another massive iron ore project in the Pilbara region. It produces 60 million tonnes of ore per year.
- Other Minerals: The company is also involved in mining other materials, like manganese.
In 2024, Rinehart invested in companies that produce rare earth materials. These are important for making electronics and are mostly produced by China.
Expanding Beyond Mining
In the 2010s, Rinehart began to invest in businesses outside of mining.
- Media: She bought large shares in the TV network Ten Network Holdings and the media company Fairfax Media. She was the largest shareholder in Fairfax for a time but sold her shares in 2015.
- Agriculture: Rinehart also invested heavily in farming. She bought several huge cattle properties, including the historic Fossil Downs Station.
Forbes magazine has consistently named her one of the most powerful women in the world.
Political Views and Activities
Rinehart has strong opinions about business and the economy. She believes Australia needs to lower taxes and have fewer rules for businesses to compete with other countries. She founded a group called ANDEV to promote development in Northern Australia.
In 2012, she made comments that caused a lot of discussion. She suggested that to make more money, people should "spend less time drinking or smoking and socialising, and more time working." She also pointed out that workers in some African countries were willing to work for less than two dollars a day, which she said made her worry about Australia's future.
These comments were criticized by Australian political leaders at the time, including Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Rinehart is also a known supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Hancock Family Trust
In 1988, Lang Hancock created a trust fund for his four grandchildren, with Gina Rinehart as the trustee (the person in charge). A trust is a legal way to hold money or property for someone else. The trust owns a large part of Hancock Prospecting and is worth billions of dollars.
In 2011, a legal disagreement began between Rinehart and three of her children over the trust. Her children wanted to remove her as the trustee. The case went to court and received a lot of media attention.
In 2013, Rinehart stepped down as trustee. The court later appointed her daughter, Bianca Rinehart, as the new trustee to manage the fund for the grandchildren.
Net Worth and Wealth Rankings
Gina Rinehart is one of the richest people in the world. Her wealth mainly comes from her company, Hancock Prospecting, and its valuable iron ore projects.
Her fortune grew incredibly fast during the mining boom of the 2000s and 2010s. In 2011, she became Australia's richest person. In 2012, BRW magazine claimed she had become the richest woman in the world, with a fortune of A$29.17 billion.
The price of iron ore can go up or down, which affects her net worth. Even when her wealth has dropped, she has often remained Australia's richest person. Since 2020, she has consistently held the top spot on Australia's rich lists. In 2025, the Financial Review Rich List estimated her wealth at A$38.11 billion.
Wealth Rankings Table
| Year | Financial Review Rich List |
Forbes Australia's 50 richest |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Net worth A$ | Rank | Net worth US$ | |
| 2006 | 8  |
$1.80 billion |
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| 2007 | 4 |
$4.00 billion |
14 |
$1.00 billion |
| 2008 | 5  |
$4.39 billion |
6 |
$2.40 billion |
| 2009 | 4 |
$3.47 billion |
7 |
$1.50 billion |
| 2010 | 5 |
$4.75 billion |
9 |
$2.00 billion |
| 2011 | 1 |
$10.31 billion |
1 |
$9.00 billion |
| 2012 | 1  |
$29.17 billion |
1 |
$18.00 billion |
| 2013 | 1 |
$22.02 billion |
1 |
$17.00 billion |
| 2014 | 1 |
$20.01 billion |
1 |
$17.60 billion |
| 2015 | 1 |
$14.02 billion |
1 |
$12.30 billion |
| 2016 | 4 |
$6.06 billion |
2 |
$8.50 billion |
| 2017 | 3 |
$10.40 billion |
1 |
$14.8 billion |
| 2018 | 3 |
$12.68 billion |
1 |
$17.4 billion |
| 2019 | 2 |
$13.81 billion |
1 |
$14.8 billion |
| 2020 | 1 |
$28.89 billion |
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| 2021 | 1 |
$31.06 billion |
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| 2022 | 1 |
$34.00 billion |
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| 2023 | 1 |
$37.41 billion |
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| 2024 | 1 |
$40.61 billion |
1 |
$30.8 billion |
| 2025 | 1 |
$38.11 billion |
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| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Icon | Description |
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Has not changed from the previous year |
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Has increased from the previous year |
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Has decreased from the previous year |
Charity Work and Awards
Rinehart is known for her charity work, though she often prefers to do it privately. She is known to support girls' orphanages in Cambodia. She also supports an organization there that helps rescue and protect women and children.
In Australia, she is a major supporter of sport. In 2012, her foundation began a $10 million partnership with Swimming Australia. This deal provides money directly to top swimmers and helps fund sports like synchronised swimming.
In 2022, Rinehart was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). This is a high honor given for her service to the mining industry, her charity work, and her support for sports.
