(June 15): Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart said she made “a significant investment” in SpaceX, as her mining company laid out ambitions to work with Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company.
Hancock Prospecting, Rinehart’s investment company, said in a statement Monday that it was allocated shares in SpaceX’s initial public offering last week, though it didn’t specify the size of the stake. Dow Jones said Rinehart’s stake was valued at more than US$1 billion.
“This is a significant investment for Hancock,” Rinehart said in the statement. SpaceX is “operating in sectors that are crucial and with long-term potential,” she said.
SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, began trading on Friday after raising US$75 billion in the largest listing of all time. Its stock closed up 19%. Rinehart has a personal fortune of US$37 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
An investment of more than US$1 billion in SpaceX would be one of Rinehart’s single largest holdings — beyond her iron-ore operations in Western Australia. In recent years, she has amassed one of the largest collection of rare earths and critical minerals investment portfolios outside of China, with stakes in Lynas Rare Earths Ltd and MP Materials Corp.
Hancock Prospecting said there’s scope for possible collaboration with SpaceX in this field, as demand grows for the materials and infrastructure required for technological developments.
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“We also see the possibility of mutually beneficial arrangements between SpaceX and Hancock Prospecting’s significant critical minerals investments,” Hancock Prospecting chief executive officer Garry Korte said in the statement. “We look forward to the potential of working with the SpaceX team on its exciting journey.”
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