Meet Gina Rinehart, the Australian mining magnate worth almost $19 billion

• Gina Rinehart runs Hancock Prospecting and is Australia's richest woman, worth almost $19 billion.
• Rinehart's wealth stems from her mining company called Hancock Prospecting.

Gina Rinehart has long been one of Australia's richest people thanks to her company Hancock Prospecting, which controls the country's largest iron ore mine.

The 70-year-old is in 103rd place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, worth an estimated $18.8 billion, although that figure has fallen by $8.4 billion this year. She's also the world's ninth-richest woman, according to Forbes.

Earlier this year Hancock and Chile's SQM took control of Australian lithium miner Azure Minerals. Lithium has become highly sought-after given its use in batteries for electric vehicles and other applications.

Rinehart has also been highly involved in funding Australian sport — and made headlines following family disputes.

Who is Gina Rinehart?

The 70-year-old magnate was born in Perth but spent her childhood in the Pilbara, the mineral-rich region in the north of Western Australia.

She briefly studied economics at the University of Sydney but dropped out to work for the mining company run by her father, Lang Hancock.

When he died in 1992, Rinehart took over Hancock Prospecting and acquired the Roy Hill mine soon after.

A booming market for iron ore in the 2000s allowed her to keep expanding the business, and she became a billionaire in 2006.

Sports enthusiast

Rinehart has been called a "godmother" to Australian sport after donating millions of dollars to swimming, rowing, volleyball, and artistic swimming teams in recent years. The funding has helped athletes cover living expenses and other costs while training.

However, Rinehart's sponsorship of sport has not been without controversy.

In 2022, Rinehart and Hancock Prospecting withdrew sponsorship of Australia's netball team after an Indigenous player raised concerns about wearing a uniform with the company's logo due to comments made in the 1980s by Rinehart's father.

Rinehart and Hancock said in a statement at the time that it was "unnecessary for sports organizations to be used as a vehicle for social or political causes."

The lost funding was later replaced by government tourist body Visit Victoria.

Family drama

In 1983, Rinehart contested her mother's will, resulting in a feud with her father, per outlets including The Australian Women's Weekly.

After Hancock died, Rinehart waged a lengthy legal battle with her stepmother Rose Porteous over the circumstances that led to her father's death.

Rinehart has also been embroiled in court battles with her son John Hancock and daughter Bianca Rinehart over the rights to mining royalties worth billions of dollars.

She once said in a television TV interview that her children "just want unearned things to keep falling from the sky."

Portrait row

Earlier this year Rinehart made global headlines after seeking the removal of an unflattering portrait from the National Gallery of Australia.

Vincent Namatjira's painting, which depicts her with mottled pink skin and a double chin, has not been taken off display. The gallery said at the time it "welcomes the public having a dialog" about its displays.

Several Australian swimmers came to Rinehart's defense, calling the painting "offensive."

The mining magnate found that trying to hide something relatively obscure can unintentionally draw far more attention to it — a prime example of the "Streisand effect."