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Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart's biggest US bet is now Elon Musk's SpaceX

Gina Rinehart bought 8 million SpaceX shares worth $1.37 billion in the second quarter, making it her largest US-traded holding.

Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart's biggest US bet is now Elon Musk's SpaceX
Gina Rinehart

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Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart bought 8 million shares in Elon Musk's SpaceX during the second quarter, a position worth $1.37 billion at the end of June and the largest U.S.-traded holding in her portfolio, according to a regulatory filing released Friday.

Rinehart's investment firm, Hancock Prospecting, held $5.71 billion of U.S.-traded securities on June 30, up 72 percent from the previous quarter. The portfolio contained 42 holdings across mining, energy, technology and defense, along with exchange-traded funds.

The firm also doubled its stake in Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates President Donald Trump's Truth Social platform, and bought about $260 million of exchange-traded funds tracking the S&P 500. It increased positions in several defense and energy companies.

Hancock Prospecting must disclose U.S.-listed holdings each quarter while their combined value exceeds $100 million.

Rinehart said in June that she had made a significant investment connected to the SpaceX initial public offering on June 12 but did not give a figure. The offering raised about $106 billion, the largest on record. Shares priced at $135 and closed 19 percent higher on debut at $160.95.

Garry Korte, chief executive of Hancock Prospecting, said the allocation reflected the company's view of SpaceX and pointed to possible cooperation between the two businesses.

"SpaceX is years ahead in launch capability, and critically, satellite communications, and in a short space of time has built a leading AI platform, Grok, which we use," Korte said. He said the firms could reach mutually beneficial arrangements involving Hancock's critical minerals investments as demand grew for materials supporting advanced technology.

Rinehart has increased her exposure to defense and minerals over the past two years. Hancock has held more than $1 billion in Lynas Rare Earths since 2024. It spent $130 million on U.S. defense stocks including Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, RTX and L3Harris Technologies in the weeks before the SpaceX purchase, and reduced its holding in Chilean lithium producer SQM.

Musk disclosed his own SpaceX holding in a separate filing. He holds 6.42 billion shares, a 48.4 percent economic stake worth more than $900 billion, and controls more than 82 percent of the voting power.

Rinehart, 72, is worth $32.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. She inherited an indebted business from her father, Lang Hancock, and developed iron ore deposits in Western Australia's Pilbara region into one of the world's largest mining operations.

She has raised her profile in Washington and at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in recent years. In Australia she has supported the far-right One Nation party and donated a private jet to its leader, Pauline Hanson.

Hancock Prospecting held $3.1 billion of U.S. stocks a year earlier, when it increased its Trump Media holding by 67 percent.

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