Michael Wright (1937–2012) was an Australian heir and businessman.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
His late grandfather, Canon McClemans, founded Christ Church Grammar School.[2] His late father, Peter Wright, co-founded Hancock Prospecting and Wright Prospecting with the late Lang Hancock, who was Gina Rinehart's father.[2] [3] [7] [8] [9] His sister is Angela Bennett.[3] [5] [6] He was born in Western Australia and attended Christ Church Grammar School.[3]
He started his career in the family concern, at Wright Prospecting.[3] In 1991, he bought the Voyager Estate winery in Margaret River, Western Australia, despite being a teetotaller.[1] [2] [3] [6] [10] He sat on the Board of Governors at the University of Notre Dame Australia in Fremantle.[3]
After his father's death, he inherited $900 million fortune with his sister.[4] In 2010, he and his sister received AUS$1 billion from Gina Rinehart after she was legally forced to give up twenty-five per cent in the Rhodes Ridges iron ore mine 60 km west of Newman in the Pilbara.[3] [4] [7] [8] [9] They owned fifteen per cent of Hamersley Iron shares from the Rio Tinto Group, Gina Rinehart owning the other fifty per cent.[5] With his sister, he was worth US$2.3 billion or AUS$2.7 billion.[5] [6]