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Australia's richest person has backed the world's richest person after taking a reported $US1 billion ($1.42 billion) stake in Elon Musk's SpaceX through an allocation of the largest initial public offering in history.
Rinehart's mining group Hancock Prospecting has not revealed the size of the allocation from the SpaceX IPO, but in a statement today the company simply describes it as a "significant investment".
However, The Wall Street Journal has reported the stake to be worth more than $US1 billion.
The investment places Hancock Prospecting among the notable institutional backers of Musk's aerospace and satellite internet company, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SPCX last week.
SpaceX priced its IPO at $US135 per share, valuing the company at $US1.77 trillion.
The company issued 555.6 million shares to raise about $US75 billion, eclipsing Saudi Aramco's US$29 billion IPO in 2019, making it the biggest IPO ever conducted.
Shares closed the first day of trading at $US160.95, up 19 per cent, pushing SpaceX's market capitalisation to $US2.1 trillion before after-hours trading nudged it toward $US2.2 trillion.
That would have given Rinehart an indicative gain of about US$190 million on day one of the listing.
In a statement issued today, Rinehart, the Hancock Prospecting executive chairman, has described SpaceX as "one of the defining companies of the 21st century" and has called the listing "world leading".
“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," she says.
“SpaceX’s record speaks for itself. It was the first private company to launch a liquid-fuel rocket to orbit in 2008, the first to dock a private spacecraft with the International Space Station in 2012, and other firsts, and, very critically, through Starlink, the first to begin deploying large-scale LEO broadband satellite constellations in 2019, which network is critical for communications."
SpaceX generated $US18.7 billion in revenue in 2025 but posted a net loss of $US4.9 billion as it continued heavy investment across its Starship rocket program and the expansion of its Starlink broadband constellation.
Musk retains more than 82 per cent of voting control in the company following the listing, which has boosted his personal fortune to US$1.1 trillion - making him the world's first trillionaire.
The SpaceX stake represents a significant pivot for Hancock, which is best known as one of Australia's largest iron ore producers and has expanded aggressively into critical minerals including lithium and rare earths.
“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," says Rinehart.
“SpaceX stands apart as the only company globally building integrated hardware and software across its core segments of space, connectivity and AI.
"It has changed what many thought was possible - from reusable rockets to advanced connectivity - and its work will continue to shape industries, economies and opportunities for decades to come.
“This is a significant investment for Hancock, and we are pleased to have received an allocation in what has been an extremely popular and oversubscribed IPO."
Hancock Prospecting CEO Garry Korte describes the SpaceX share allocation as a strong endorsement of Rinehart, who has met with Musk several times in recent years.
“It reflects the international regard for our chairman and company," says Kote.
“SpaceX is targeting development of a vertically integrated infrastructure business, has cutting edge engineering capability, and is looking to drive down costs through manufacturing technique, scale and development speed.
"SpaceX is years ahead in launch capability, and critically, satellite communications, and in a short space of time has built a leading AI platform, Grok, which we use.
"They continue to innovate with the design and manufacture of their own chips as well as putting AI compute into orbit."
Korte also points out a potential for "mutually beneficial arrangements" between SpaceX and Hancock Prospecting’s critical minerals investments.
Korte's reference to potential synergies between SpaceX and Hancock's minerals portfolio points to a strategic rationale beyond a purely financial investment, given SpaceX's reliance on advanced materials for rocket and satellite manufacturing.
Rinehart, who is worth about $39 billion, also used the statement to praise Musk's role leading the Department of Government Efficiency in the United States, describing his efforts to reduce government waste as beneficial to taxpayers.
“As Elon Musk says: 'The larger government gets, the less individual freedom you have. Your freedoms have just been eroded year after year with more and more government, laws and regulations and regulatory authorities'," she says.
“SpaceX is yet another clear example of why the world needs more enterprise, more builders and much less bureaucracy.
"It has delivered lower costs and greater capability by moving with the urgency and discipline that bureaucracy too often delays or prevents.”
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