LONDON: Gina Rinehart, an Australian business woman who inherited a debt-ridden mining company from her father 20 years ago, is predicted to become the world’s richest person, a media report said on Tuesday.
Rinehart, 57, is the richest Australian and her fortune has more than doubled in the past year because of a commodities boom. She is on course to overtake Carlos Slim, the Mexican magnate worth $73 billion, and the Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, who is worth $55 billion.
Citigroup calculates that three coal and iron ore projects she is developing will lead her to overtake the men. “If Rinehart was a company listed on Australia Stock Exchange and valued using the same 11-times price-to-earnings ratio as her partner, Rio Tinto, she would be worth $30 billion, putting her in top 10 of the Forbes rich list,” said SmartCompany, an Australian business website.
