Gina Rinehart takes $1 billion-plus SpaceX stake after market debut
The Australian mining billionaire’s SpaceX investment is Hancock Prospecting’s largest outside iron ore, the Wall Street Journal reported.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has taken a SpaceX stake worth more than $1 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, adding a major resources-sector investor to the company’s shareholder roster after its market debut. The holding is Hancock Prospecting’s largest investment outside iron ore, according to the Journal, and signals Rinehart’s growing interest in U.S. technology and strategic industry assets.
Hancock Prospecting said Monday that Rinehart had made a “significant investment” in SpaceX. Rinehart, 72, chairs Hancock, a major iron ore exporter, and Bloomberg estimates her fortune at $36.9 billion.
Fortune reported that SpaceX began trading Friday and had reached a $2.5 trillion valuation by Monday. Its shares rose nearly 20% on Monday to close at $192.50, after opening at $150 on Friday, according to Fortune.
In Hancock’s statement, Rinehart praised SpaceX’s combination of space, connectivity and artificial intelligence work. She said the company stood out because it builds hardware and software across those areas, and described Musk as a rare builder of companies capable of delivering new technology.
“Elon has done what very few people in history have done — he has not just imagined the future, he has built companies capable of delivering it, and helped to keep American technology at the forefront,” Rinehart said in the statement.
Hancock said Rinehart has met Musk several times. The company also pointed to SpaceX milestones, including becoming the first private company to dock with the International Space Station and the first to deploy a large low-Earth-orbit broadband satellite network.
The SpaceX purchase fits a recent pattern of U.S.-focused investments by Hancock. Bloomberg reported that Hancock put almost $100 million into U.S. defense companies in the first quarter of 2026, including RTX, Northrop Grumman, L3Harris Technologies and Lockheed Martin.
Hancock also bought a 6% stake worth about $34 million in Rare Earths Americas, a new U.S. mining company, according to Fortune. Bloomberg has reported that Rinehart has expanded heavily into rare earths since 2020 and built the largest rare earths portfolio outside China.
Hancock Chief Executive Garry Korte said in the company statement that the firm sees potential commercial links between SpaceX and Hancock’s critical minerals investments. He said Hancock looked forward to the possibility of working with SpaceX.
Rinehart has also been publicly aligned with President Donald Trump and Musk on politics, according to the Guardian and Forbes. The Guardian reported that she attended Trump’s 2022 reelection campaign launch, while Forbes reported she was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago election night party in 2024, which Musk also attended.
Hancock’s statement quoted Musk criticizing the expansion of government, citing remarks from a Trump campaign rally in 2024. Fortune reported that Rinehart has supported Musk’s work through the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.