Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart tops WA list at $26.4bn

Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has topped Western Australia’s annual ranking of its richest people again, with an estimated fortune of A$37.5 billion ($26.4 billion), as the number of billionaires in the resource-rich state rose to 20.

The 2026 Rich 100, compiled by Perth-based Business News and released on Oct. 29, puts the combined wealth of the state’s 100 richest individuals and families at more than A$168 billion ($118.1 billion). That is about 5% more than last year’s list, which totaled about A$160 billion ($112.5 billion).

Rinehart, 72, the executive chairman of Hancock Prospecting, accounts for almost a quarter of the list’s total value on her own. Her fortune comes mainly from iron ore mined in the Pilbara region, and it slipped from more than A$40 billion ($28.1 billion) a year ago after what the list describes as a softer year for the commodity. Hancock Prospecting, the company her father Lang Hancock founded, controls the Roy Hill iron ore mine and has investments in rare earths, lithium and cattle stations.

The Forrests take second and third

Nicola Forrest is second with A$17.3 billion ($12.2 billion), ahead of her former husband Andrew Forrest, who is third with A$16.2 billion ($11.4 billion). Andrew Forrest founded Fortescue, the world’s fourth-largest iron ore producer, and the couple co-founded the Minderoo Foundation, one of Australia’s biggest charities. They announced their separation in 2023, and Nicola Forrest has ranked ahead of him on both of the past two Western Australian lists.

Rinehart is also Australia’s richest person, and both Forrests rank among the country’s 10 wealthiest people.

Perth-based media and industrial investor Kerry Stokes is also on the 2026 list. Other names include Angela Bennett, Leonie Baldock and Alexandra Burt, the descendants of Peter Wright, who co-founded the Hancock and Wright iron ore partnership with Rinehart’s father. Their wealth jumped last year after Japan’s Mitsui & Co. agreed to buy a 40% stake in the Rhodes Ridge iron ore project.

Twenty billionaires

The state’s billionaire club grew to 20 individuals and families, from 19 last year and 16 in 2024. The newest member is the Wheatley family, whose family office, APPL, is redeveloping the Charles Quarter precinct in West Perth, a site that once housed the family’s car dealership business.

The list has 12 new entries this year, a mix of new fortunes and older wealth that met the threshold after further research. The cut-off also rose. The Wandel farming family, led by Neil Wandel, is a newcomer at 100th place with A$280 million ($197 million), compared with a floor of A$215 million ($151 million) in 2025.

Western Australia is home to most of Australia’s iron ore output and much of its gold, lithium and gas production, and its rich list is dominated by mining fortunes.