The first major shots have been fired in what will be one of the bitterest family feuds in Australian legal history as the Rinehart brothers square off in their billion-dollar battle with mother Gina.
The mining magnate’s son John Hancock, 47, and his sister Bianca, 46, search for assets they say their grandfather Lang Hancock left them.
The claim that they are owed billions that mother Gina, the world’s richest woman, passed on from a family fund to her own company.
Backing her mother, however, are younger sisters Ginia, 36, and Hope Welker, 37 (from Gina’s second marriage to Frank Rinehart), who have remained loyal to the family empire.
Bianca (left) believes she and her brother John are owed billions in assets that she claims their mother Gina has hidden
John Hancock is seeking his share of the assets they say his grandfather Lang Hancock left them as part of the Hope Downs operation.
John and Bianca, who scored the first public victory in a separate civil case in the WA Supreme Court last week between Gina and reclusive mining heiress Angela Bennett.
Bennett, the daughter of Lang’s former business partner Peter Wright, is among those challenging the Rinehart fortune, along with her son Michael Wright and their children, Leonie Baldock and Alexandra Burt.
The court heard that a 37-year-old letter from Gina’s father, Lang, was “significant evidence” that Gina knew that a Pilbara iron ore mine that has since brought her company billions of dollars was intended to be shared with Wright.
That letter was dug up by Bianca and John and presented to the court on behalf of Wright Prospecting by attorney Julie Taylor.
In the letter, Lang had outlined the division of assets and stipulated that his company Hancock Prospecting would retain East Angelas, now known as Hope Downs 4, 5 and 6, jointly for the ‘Hanwright’ partnership.
“Lang and Ms. Rinehart knew and understood that these areas were held in common for the partnership,” Taylor told the court.
Gina knew that a rich iron ore property was jointly owned by another company before it signed an agreement with Rio Tinto to develop it, a lawsuit said.
While this civil case is only in its early stages, the letter in question is seen as a potential game-changer for the Wright family, as well as Bianca and John, who have lawyers present at the hearing in Perth.
The outcome of this case will have a major influence on their own case, which is currently in confidential arbitration: the culmination of a years-long feud between the four brothers and Gina, now the richest woman in the world.
The basis of their claim is that their grandfather allegedly left them assets that they say Rinehart illegally moved from a family fund to his own company.
Hope and Ginia are from her second marriage to Frank Rinehart and are not involved in the claim against her half-siblings.
It is understood that they, along with their mother, are deeply estranged from Bianca and John, with Ginia already anointed as the successor to the Hancock Prospecting empire once Gina steps down.
Bianca Rinehart married businessman Sasha Serebryakov in 2013, but her mother Gina did not attend the wedding.
Based in Bondi with her personal trainer husband, Simon Robinson, Ginia is the richest of Gina’s children, ranked 46th on the 2022 Forbes Rich List with a fortune of $2.47 billion.
Her wedding to Robinson at Hamilton Island’s luxurious Qualia resort in 2016 drew a who’s who of powerful Australians, including Fairfax Media head Jack Cowin, advertising kingpin John Singleton and Nutrimetics pioneer-turned- wealthy property developer Imelda Roche.
It was only the second of her children’s weddings that Gina had been invited to; she was not invited to the weddings of her daughter Bianca or her son John, but she did attend the nuptials of reclusive daughter Hope in 2005.
However, that marriage, to American mining executive Ryan Welker, ended in 2013, around the same time Hope dropped the legal fight against her mother after siding with Bianca and John.
Ginia Rinehart has long supported mother Gina and is expected to succeed her at Hancock Prospecting
Gina and Ginia together here in 2011. The younger sister is believed to be their mother’s ‘favourite’.
Hope reportedly received a $300 million payment from Gina and has since remained silent on all family matters, though her personal wealth now stands at $2 billion according to Forbes.
She retains the surname Welker and is believed to be living in New York with her three children.
Bianca’s personal wealth is slightly above $2.42 billion, while John’s sits at $2 billion.
As Senior Advisor to Lind Partners LLC, John also manages his own private investment fund and shares three children: Georgia, 17, Jasmine, 14, and Zara, 9, with his wife Gemma.
The clan is believed to reside outside London in the UK and regularly travel to Dubai and Switzerland.
Both he and his sister Bianca could greatly increase their financial stake in the family trust if their claim against Gina, which is currently in secret arbitration, is successful.
The trust is now worth an estimated $9.2 billion.
However, the civil proceedings in the WA Supreme Court are expected to be lengthy with lawyers for all parties reportedly on hold until December 2023.
The Rinhart Children
John Hancock, 48 (against)
An investment banker and the only son of Gina Rinehart, Hancock has spearheaded the decade-long legal campaign against his mother and Hancock Prospecting despite the fact that it was Hope who threw the first grenade.
Based in the UK, John shares three children with his wife Gemma and is known to be estranged from younger sisters Hope Welker and Ginia Rinehart.
Bianca Rinehart, 47 (Against)
Brisbane-based glamorous Bianca is the eldest daughter of Gina Rinehart and is a trustee of the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust. She has long sided with brother John in his battle for a larger share of the family trust.
He has a BA in Hospitality and Hotel Management from Flinders University in Adelaide.
Ginia Rinehart, 36 (With)
The youngest of the Rinehart clan and believed to be closest to her mother, Ginia has remained loyal to Gina throughout the years of family feud and is promoted to take over Hancock Prospecting when her mother takes over. side.
Hope Welker, 37 (With)
Despite now being firmly behind Gina Rinehart in the family legal battle, Hope initially sided with brother John and sister Bianca. However, a divorce from the husband of a mining executive and what she called ‘financial strain’ at the time led her to switch sides in 2013.
Hope is now believed to be living in New York under her old married name.
