Billionaire Rinehart Bets $100 Million on US Defense Stocks
Originally published by Anders Melin of Bloomberg.
18.05.2026
Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, invested almost $100 million in US weapons-makers and also backed two mining companies during the first quarter of this year.
Her closely held Hancock Prospecting Ltd. bought shares in RTX Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., L3Harris Technologies Inc. and Lockheed Martin Corp. that were worth a combined $97 million as of March 31, according to a regulatory filing.
Hancock also added 1.35 million shares to its position in Hudbay Minerals Inc. and took a stake in Newmont Corp. Those stakes, and the firm’s positions in miners Teck Resources Ltd. and MP Materials Corp., together make up nearly half of Hancock’s roughly $3.3 billion stock portfolio, according to Bloomberg calculations.
The tycoon, 72, made her fortune from developing massive iron ore deposits in Western Australia. She is currently worth $43.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. More recently, she’s added to her wealth by amassing the world’s largest portfolio of rare-earth element investments outside of China.
Hancock Prospecting bought about 1.2 million shares in Rare Earths Americas Inc., taking a 6% stake in the newly listed US miner worth about $34 million, according to a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission last week.
She’s also sought to raise her profile in Washington and at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, aiming to join a circle of prominent and super-wealthy individuals, from Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk to Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, with access to the president.
The MSCI World Metals & Mining Index has returned 19% this year through Friday’s close compared to an 8.2% rise in the S&P 500. The MSCI World Aerospace & Defense Index has slumped 3.5%.
Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, invested almost $100 million in US weapons-makers and also backed two mining companies during the first quarter of this year.
Her closely held Hancock Prospecting Ltd. bought shares in RTX Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., L3Harris Technologies Inc. and Lockheed Martin Corp. that were worth a combined $97 million as of March 31, according to a regulatory filing.
Hancock also added 1.35 million shares to its position in Hudbay Minerals Inc. and took a stake in Newmont Corp. Those stakes, and the firm’s positions in miners Teck Resources Ltd. and MP Materials Corp., together make up nearly half of Hancock’s roughly $3.3 billion stock portfolio, according to Bloomberg calculations.
The tycoon, 72, made her fortune from developing massive iron ore deposits in Western Australia. She is currently worth $43.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. More recently, she’s added to her wealth by amassing the world’s largest portfolio of rare-earth element investments outside of China.
Hancock Prospecting bought about 1.2 million shares in Rare Earths Americas Inc., taking a 6% stake in the newly listed US miner worth about $34 million, according to a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission last week.
She’s also sought to raise her profile in Washington and at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, aiming to join a circle of prominent and super-wealthy individuals, from Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk to Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, with access to the president.
The MSCI World Metals & Mining Index has returned 19% this year through Friday’s close compared to an 8.2% rise in the S&P 500. The MSCI World Aerospace & Defense Index has slumped 3.5%.