Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart has had her fair share of family drama over the last several years and it doesn't look like it is going to end anytime soon. Her two eldest children have just won the right to take their mom back to court to continue the family's long running fight over the family mining fortune.
It all started three and a half years ago when Rinehart's daughter, Hope Welker, sued over Gina's decision to extend her ownership and control of the family trust by 57 years, to 2068. Gina Rinehart is currently 62 years old and would be 114 years old in 2068. Gina's father, Lang Hancock set up the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust. It is supposed to revert to his grandchildren – John, Bianca, Ginia and Hope. Ginia sided with her mother, while the others sued for what they believed was rightfully theirs.
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In 2013, Hope Welker settled for $45 million. Rinehart's two eldest children, John and Bianca, continued the fight. They eventually won the lawsuit and were given control over the $3 billion trust. Their mother had allegedly undertaken an elaborate ruse that involved manipulating PricewaterhouseCoopers into disseminating false information to her children, telling them they would have to pay enormous capital gains taxes if the trust was under their control. The firm claimed that Bianca would have to pay $142 million. This was actually NOT the truth. It was all an attempt to discourage her children from continuing their legal fight.
Now, Bianca Rinehart and John Hancock are fighting for an even bigger stake in the family's mining empire. In this latest lawsuit, the siblings claim that their billionaire mother wrongly transferred extremely valuable mining assets away from the family trust. Last week, a judge ruled that the dispute her kids have with her over the valuable assets should go to trial. Gina Rinehart had been seeking confidential arbitration in this matter.
Gina Rinehart has a net worth of $12.7 billion.
The case is due to return to court on June 30th.
