Mining & Media Billionaire Rinehart In ‘Legal Battle’ With Children Over Family Trust

According too Bloomberg, the three oldest children of Georgina Rinehart are suing Australian mining & media billionaire to have at least one of them appointed as the trustee. The 58-year-old Australian inherited a iron ore and coal mining company Hancock Prospecting from her father and has stakes in two of Australia’s largest media companies, newspaper publisher Fairfax Media and television broadcaster Ten Network Holdings.

Hancock Prospecting is a 50-50 partner with global miner Rio Tinto in the Hope Downs mines in the Pilbara, Australia’s iron ore-rich region which Rinehart’s father, Langley Hancock, is credited with discovering.

Rinehart tried to keep the family row out of public view, but a court lifted a suppression order last Friday, clearing the way for details of the feud to be aired.

The family trust owns nearly 25 per cent of Hancock Prospecting. None of the children “has ever held any paid position in the resources industry, other than as arranged or paid for” by Rinehart, according to the statement of defense.

Under Hancock Prospecting’s, or HPPL’s, constitution, only a person who is a Hancock family group member is entitled to hold and control a share in the company.

Ms Rinehart, identified by Forbes magazine as the world’s 29th richest person with a fortune worth $US18 billion.

And if her company & China continues to grow at a rapid pace, she could become the worlds wealthiest person.

The company, with iron ore and coal projects in Australia, has 6,000 voting shares with Rinehart holding 4,593 and the trust 1,407, according to a statement of defense filed by Rinehart’s lawyers.

Rinehart has full and ongoing control and management of the company and would lose it if a new trustee were appointed, the lawyers said.

A reality rejected by Rinehart, who said none of the children had the required trust, independence or ability for the job.

South Korea’s Posco plans to seal a deal to expand its stake in a Western Australian iron ore project for $US1.6 billion ($1.5 billion), undaunted by the feud between its partner, Gina Rinehart, and her children over the family business, a spokesman says.

“To our knowledge, it is a row over wealth, not mining rights. The row is a separate matter and will not have a direct impact on our plan,” Posco spokesman Chung Jae-woong said.

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Posted by WoodlawnPost on Mar 13 2012. Filed under Australia, Base Metals, Investments, Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.