Article by Ainsley Thomson, courtesy of Bloomberg
18.11.2025
Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, has become the biggest shareholder in US rare-earths producer MP Materials Corp., boosting her global bet on strategic minerals.
Her privately held Hancock Prospecting Ltd. held about $3 billion of US-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds as of Sept. 30, according to a new regulatory filing.
Hancock bought an additional 1 million shares in MP Materials during the third quarter, lifting its stake to 8.4% and making it the firm’s biggest shareholder. After the rare-earth miner’s share price doubled over the period, the holding was valued at $997 million at the end of September — the biggest position in Hancock’s portfolio, according to Bloomberg calculations.
MP Materials Chief Executive Officer and founder James Litinsky is the company’s second biggest shareholder, with a 7.9% stake, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The firm — operator of the only rare-earths mine in the US — secured a $400 million equity investment from the Pentagon in July, drawing Rinehart’s empire deeper into America’s defense supply chain.
The entrepreneur, who made her fortune from developing massive iron ore deposits in Western Australia, is currently worth $32.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
