Elon Musk‘s SpaceX made a historic debut on the stock market last week. Since then, the rocket company’s market value has reached $2.5 trillion, making it one of the most valuable publicly traded companies in the US. Soon after, Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, bought a hefty stake of over $1 billion in SpaceX. The investment, made through Rinehart’s privately held company, Hancock Prospecting, marks the firm’s largest outside its core iron ore business.In a statement shared by Hancock Prospecting, Reinhart wrote, “Elon has done what very few people in history have done.” She added that she’s betting on the company’s founder, Elon Musk, the world’s first trillionaire, and predicted that SpaceX is positioned to influence multiple industries for years to come.
Read Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart’s full statement on investing in Elon Musk’s SpaceX
In her statement, Reinhart wrote, “I congratulate Elon Musk on this world leading IPO. Having built two of the world’s top 10 largest companies by market capitalisation is an extraordinary achievement. And contributed significantly to his country, via his leading role in DOGE. 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. 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. 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. 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.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.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.””
