Gina Rinehart's company has invested a reported $1bn in Elon Musk's SpaceX and expressed hopes to collaborate on AI infrastructure in the future.
Investment Details
Hancock Prospecting secured a "significant" allocation after SpaceX began trading on sharemarkets on Friday, Rinehart announced in a statement. She expressed strong confidence in Musk, congratulating him: "Elon has done what very few people in history have done – he has not just imagined the future, he has built companies capable of delivering it, and helped to keep American technology at the forefront … We see SpaceX as a rare business: led by a truly exceptional person, technically exceptional and operating in sectors that are crucial, and with long-term potential. Hancock favours investing in industries led by sensible, hard working, patriotic and exceptional people. Elon excels in every regard."
AI Prospects
Rinehart highlighted SpaceX's early rocket efforts and Starlink satellite network, but expressed particular excitement about its AI prospects. Hancock Prospecting CEO Garry Korte confirmed Rinehart has met Musk several times, noting the company uses the Grok AI platform and would "look forward" to potentially working with SpaceX as a supplier of critical minerals for advanced technology infrastructure.
Scale of Investment
Hancock Prospecting declined to specify the investment size when asked about the Wall Street Journal's report that Rinehart bought over US$1bn (A$1.4bn) worth of the US$2.1tn (A$2.97bn) company. If accurate, this would dwarf her largest US shareholdings of US$0.7bn each in MP Materials and an Invesco Nasdaq index fund.
