Smart Money Guide: Australia's richest woman

Monday, November 29, 2010

Australia's richest woman - Gina Rinehart

You've got to give credit to Gina Rinehart (previously Gina Hancock). Even if her empire was started off from inherited wealth, it's probably not easy competing in a male dominated field such as mining. Rinehart is Australia's second wealthiest woman with $4.75 billion according to BRW magazine rich list for the year.

She's been quoted saying:

That quote does show how tenacious she can be and why she's a success in the mining world. Good on her.

Rinehart married her second husband when she was 29 years old and he was 57 years old. Whether she sought a father figure in Frank Rinehart or whether true love did exist, only they will ever know. Catherine Zeta Jones, one of the world's hottest actress married Michael Douglass and there's a 25 year age gap between them.

What does Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest have in common?

They both built their wealth (or in the case of Rinehart, built wealth upon wealth)on the back of iron ore deposits and operating mines. The vast majority of iron ore mined is used to make steel. Australian mining companies are one of the world's largest suppliers of iron ore and we've been benefiting from the past few years of Chinese economic boom.

Andrew Forrest is most likely just as tenacious as Rinehart. His company Fortescue Metals Group (ASX: FMG) had to battle RIO and BHP and compete in their market. Despite oppositions from the larger mining companies, he's been stubborn enough to fight his way through opposition and criticism to become Australia's richest man. He had a pretty ordinary background - graduated with double majors in economics and politics. Then he worked as a stockbroker. He founded a mining company in his early thirties. Simply amazing.