Australia’s richest person is already well acquainted with Elon Musk; now she’s declaring she’s backed the recently minted trillionaire, whom she describes as “exceptional” and patriotic.
Rinehart, worth an estimated $39 billion, took at least a US$1 billion stake ($1.4 billion) in Musk’s SpaceX IPO, according to the Wall Street Journal, which immediately rose 20 per cent on its debut on the sharemarket to hit a $US2.1 trillion valuation.
Invested via Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, it’s Rinehart’s biggest investment yet outside of iron ore. While she hasn’t confirmed the exact figure, she agreed it is “a significant investment for Hancock” and that they received an allocation in the oversubscribed IPO, in which just 4 per cent of SpaceX’s capital was released.
Rinehart says her investment reflects her confidence in Musk, according to the Australian Financial Review today. “He has not just imagined the future, he has built companies capable of delivering it, and helped keep American technology at the forefront.
Further, she said that: “Hancock favours investing in industries led by sensible, hard-working, patriotic and exceptional people. Elon excels in every regard”.
“SpaceX is yet another clear example of why the world needs more enterprise, more builders and much less bureaucracy,” she said.
And Hancock CEO Garry Korte has declared that Hancock looks forward to potentially working with the SpaceX team on “mutually beneficial arrangements,” including regarding Hancock’s critical minerals investments, as demand continues to grow.
The two were seen together around their mutual appreciation for US President Donald Trump, including on the campaign trail and as guests at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago. Along with Hancock CEO Garry Korte, Rinehart has also held several meetings with Musk.
Rinehart also appears to have been inspired by Musk’s foray into meddling in politics and throwing his financial weight (and media power) behind his preferred candidates, including support that helped elect Trump.
Rinehart has also been backing Australia’s own far-right leader, Pauline Hanson, including by purchasing (via one of her companies) a new Cirrus G7 plane, worth an estimated $1.3 million, which Hanson described as “Sexy”.
More recently, she helped finance the second largest commercial media broadcaster in Australia, via a deal to acquire a 10 per cent stake in Southern Cross Austereo, which owns the Seven Network, West Australian Newspapers and Triple M. IShe has previously owned stakes in Channel 10 and Fairfax.
Rinehart’s taken further inspiration from Musk by projecting one of her favourite Muskisms onto the exterior of Hancock’s Perth-based headquarters, reading: “The larger government get the less individual freedom you have. Your freedoms have just been eroded year after year with more and more government, laws, regulations and regulatory authorities.”
You know when the world’s richest person says it – and Australia’s richest person repeats it – that they’re certainly on to something beneficial for everyone, right?