The family of Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart is reportedly tied to the companies that bought two Palm Beach homes for more than $100 million combined.
Rinehart’s daughter, Hope Welker, is linked to the purchases, sources told The Real Deal. The Palm Beach Daily News first reported the Rinehart family’s involvement.
Two similarly named Delaware entities acquired the homes at 6 Via Los Incas and 107 Dolphin Road for a total of $100.9 million in December and January, records show.
In the first deal, a company tied to private equity giant Apollo Global Management sold the 8,500-square-foot mansion at 6 Via Los Incas to TT 47th LLC for $66 million. That’s nearly two times what it traded for 18 months earlier. The 0.6-acre property was developed in 1981 and includes five bedrooms, eight bathrooms, and two half-bathrooms.
In the second deal, real estate investor Irwin Ackerman and his wife, Mary, sold the 3,600-square-foot, three-bedroom home at 107 Dolphin Road to 47th LLC for $34.9 million. It was built in 1957 on 0.2 acres, and includes deeded beach cabana access and an ocean-facing pool. Michelle Hall of Sotheby’s International Realty represented the buyer. Hall didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gina Rinehart is worth about $30.6 billion, according to Forbes. Three of her children sued her in 2011 over their family trust, which was valued at $5 billion at the time. In 2015, a judge in New South Wales, Australia, ruled that Rinehart’s oldest daughter, Bianca, would manage the trust, the Guardian reported.
Palm Beach, a longtime magnet for old money, has seen an influx in new ultra wealthy buyers since the pandemic. Prices have soared in the island town for both waterfront and non-waterfront properties.
Tom Ford was recently revealed as the buyer of the non-waterfront home at 241 Jungle Road, which traded for $51 million in December, setting a record for dry properties on the island.
This week, top Palm Beach broker Lawrence Moens sold his historic estate at 930 South Ocean Boulevard to designer Tommy Hilfiger for $36.9 million. Moens bought the home for $17.9 million in March 2021, records show.