Gina Rinehart and rival heirs brace for court verdict on claim to billion-dollar fortune
Gina Rinehart faces the possibility of losing billions of dollars in riches from her Pilbara iron ore empire and her mantle as Australia’s wealthiest person when a long-awaited court verdict is delivered in Perth on Wednesday.The Western Australian supreme court judgment will rule on whether Rinehart must share the spoils of some of Hancock Prospecting’s most lucrative iron ore projects with the family of her late father’s business partner.At stake is billions of dollars in royalties and assets arising from the tenements pegged out by her father, mining pioneer Lang Hancock, and his business partner Peter Wright, through the Hanwright partnership in the 1950s and 1960s.At the centre of the claim is the lucrative Hope Downs mining complex near Newman in north-west Western Australia which is a joint venture between Hancock Prospecting and Rio Tinto, and which delivered a $832m profit to Hancock Prospecting in 2025.The Wright family heirs, including billionaire Angela Bennett and her nieces Leonie Baldock and Alexandra Burt, claim they are entitled to an equal share of the 2.
5% royalties coming from Hope Downs to Hancock Prospecting, saying Wright Prospecting never relinquished the assets held by Hanwright.Hancock Prospecting rejects the claim for both past and future royalties, arguing it undertook all the work, bore the financial risk of development and is the legitimate owner of the Hope Downs assets.In another claim that forms part of the leviathan case, the family business of late prospector Don Rhodes says it is entitled to a 1.25% share of the contested royalty stream.The judgment, which comes more than two years after the complex legal case went to trial, is expected to be appealed regardless of the outcome, further prolonging the bitter stoush that has been running for close to two decades.
Justice Jennifer Smith will also rule on a claim brought against Rinehart’s company by two of her own children, John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart, who have accused their mother in proceedings of an “egregious fraud” against them.The children claim that their mother was responsible for transferring assets out of a trust following Lang Hancock’s death in 1992, stripping them of valuable tenements that they argue they should have had the right to develop.The trust comprised part of an alleged 49% shareholding of Hancock Prospecting held by the children that is also in dispute.After being enjoined to the case by the Wright family in 2016, the children are hoping the judgment will rule that they are entitled to royalties and profits from a swag of projects developed by Rinehart following Hancock’s death, including the linchpin of Rinehart’s empire, the Roy Hill mega mine.Rinehart and Hancock Prospecting have rejected all claims, with Rinehart’s lawyers saying her actions in moving mining assets back to her company were done to right an historic wrong by her father.
They allege Hancock shuffled company assets as he sought to maintain the “lavish” lifestyle of Rinehart’s nemesis stepmother, Rose Porteous.Wednesday’s supreme court ruling will also inform a separate federal arbitration process being led by former WA chief justice Wayne Martin that will decide how Hancock Prospecting’s shares are divided between the family.While John and Bianca launched the claim for their alleged entitlement, all four of Rinehart’s children stand to benefit if the court rules in their favour.Hancock Prospecting has rejected the claim, however its latest annual report shows that more than $6.4bn in dividends have been placed in reserve pending the outcome of arbitration.
Ben Stokes plays down talk of McCullum disagreement but plans ‘different’ path to success
Ben Stokes has moved to play down suggestions of a disagreement between himself and Brendon McCullum, insisting he and the England head coach remain aligned despite an Ashes defeat that, at times, suggested otherwise.In a video released by the England and Wales Cricket Board on Tuesday, the England Test captain stressed that he and McCullum agreeing with each other all the time would be “unhealthy”.They continue to share the same overall vision for the team, he added, but things will look “different” this summer.Stokes said: “As similar as me and Brendon are, we’re also dissimilar in other areas as well. But the thing we both want is to be as successful as we possibly can
Boss of the Bronx: the turbulent reign of George Steinbrenner, baseball’s ultimate showman
A new book looks at how an eccentric shipping magnate ushered in a long run of success for the New York YankeesGeorge Steinbrenner could be quite the pitchman – whether selling New York to free agents or starring in Pepto-Bismol TV ads alongside Billy Martin. And now a new book remembers the late Yankees owner and the dynasty he founded.The Bosses of the Bronx: The Endless Drama of the Yankees Under the House of Steinbrenner flows from the pen of sports journalist and author Mike Vaccaro. As the New York Post’s lead sports columnist for more than two decades, Vaccaro has witnessed the Steinbrenner dynasty from a rarefied perspective – the journalistic equivalent of a seat along the third-base line.Vaccaro remembers the first one-on-one phone call he got from Steinbrenner
The Masters, the Premier League run-in, the National: is there a better sporting month than April? | Sean Ingle
The thought struck me on the last rattler back from the Grand National, as Avanti’s wifi faltered somewhere outside Crewe and the Masters stream on my phone froze yet again. I was watching the world’s best golf tournament, on a train journey back from the world’s greatest steeplechase, having seen the best football match of the season – Real Madrid against Bayern Munich – earlier in the week. Is there a better month in the sporting calendar than April?Augusta always delivers. Club football hits peak levels of drama and jeopardy. Then there is Aintree, Paris-Roubaix, the start of the County Championship cricket season and the World Snooker Championship
Azzi Fudd taken first in WNBA draft by Dallas Wings in UConn reunion with Paige Bueckers
Azzi Fudd was selected by the Dallas Wings with the first pick of the WNBA draft on Monday night, capping a 12-month ascent from NCAA champion to the top overall choice and setting up a reunion with former University of Connecticut teammate Paige Bueckers.The 5ft 11in guard, who led UConn to last year’s national title and was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player, is the seventh player from the program to go No 1. Bueckers, the top selection by Dallas in the 2025 draft and the reigning WNBA rookie of the year, watched Fudd’s name called from a sold-out crowd at the Shed, the $500m cultural center at Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s west side.“I’m not really sure I have words to describe the feeling, what that meant,” Fudd said. “I don’t think it’s fully sunk in
WNBA draft: Azzi Fudd goes No 1, UCLA smash record and Flau’jae Johnson traded – as it happened
And with that, the draft is complete. Thanks for joining me. A big night for No 1 pick Azzi Fudd, the record-setting UCLA Bruins, the Washington Mystics and their six (!) picks, fashion and the future of women’s basketball.With that, all eyes turn to 8 May, the first day of the season. We’ll have an opening-night triple-header: Connecticut Sun v New York Liberty, Washington Mystics v Toronto Tempo, Golden State Valkyries v Seattle Storm
‘Carelessly squandered’: Wisden scolds England’s tumultuous Ashes tour
The latest edition of Wisden is unsparing in its criticism of England’s Test team, describing their Ashes defeat in Australia as a “wing-and-a-prayer” campaign that ended up “feckless, reckless and legless”.Published this Thursday, the sport’s longstanding bible has a strong Indian flavour to its awards. Haseeb Hameed, captain of title-winning Nottinghamshire, is the sole Englishman among the five players of the year, with Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj recognised for their roles in last year’s memorable 2-2 Test series draw in England.But the nature of England’s 4-1 defeat in Australia – a tour derailed by a poor buildup, lurching tactics, and accusations of an unprofessional approach off the field – leads this year’s notes, with the editor, Lawrence Booth, saying it is “hard to think of a privilege so carelessly squandered, a chance so blithely spurned”.Booth writes: “Much of the misery was self-inflicted: from the paper-thin preparation, via a string of schoolboy dismissals, to the revelation of Harry Brook’s scrape with a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand
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