# Chris Ellison (businessman)

Christopher James Ellison MNZM (born c. 1957) is a New Zealand entrepreneur known as the founder of Australian mining services company Mineral Resources.

## Early life

Ellison was born in New Zealand. He grew up on a farm outside of Dunedin and attended Otago Boys' High School, leaving school in 1972 at the age of 15.

## Business career
### Early ventures

In 1978, Ellison moved to Karratha, Western Australia, where he established rigging firm Karratha Rigging and won a contract to work on the North West Shelf Venture. He was managing director until 1982, when he sold the firm to Walter Wright Industries and subsequently became general manager of its WA/NT division. In 1986 he established Genco Ltd, which was acquired by engineering firm Monadelphous Group in 1988. Ellison became a substantial shareholder in Monadelphous as a result of the acquisition, but the company collapsed in the early 1990s and left him financially ruined.

### Mineral Resources

In 2006, Ellison and others established Mineral Resources as a merger of three mining services firms: pipeline contractor PIHA, ore-crushing firm Crushing Services International (CSI), and Process Minerals International (PMI). Ellison was a major shareholder in each of the three. Mineral Resources was floated on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in 2006 at 90 cents per share. By 2022 the company's share price had risen to an all-time high of over $71 per share, with Ellison holding around 12 percent of the company.
In 2023, Ellison's compensation as managing director of Mineral Resources was AU$6 million.
In 2024, Ellison attracted attention for comments he made during a financial results presentation at Mineral Resources. Opposing any form of remote work, Ellison said he wanted to "hold them [staff] captive all day long. I don’t want them leaving the building … I don’t want them walking down the road for a cup of coffee. We kind of figured out a few years ago how much that cost."
In October 2024, Ellison admitted to being involved in a tax evasion scheme.

### Other activities

As of 2022, Ellison owned a 10 percent stake in ASX-listed rare earths explorer VHM Limited. In September 2023 he was appointed non-executive chairman of ASX-listed explorer Delta Lithium Ltd after Mineral Resources acquired a controlling stake.

## Personal life

In 2009, Ellison bought a riverside mansion in Mosman Park, Perth, for an Australian record price of $57.5 million (equivalent to $88.2 million in 2022). The property was bought from mining heiress Angela Bennett. In 2022 he and former Mineral Resources board member Tim Roberts purchased an agricultural property near Queenstown, New Zealand, for over NZ$30 million.
Ellison was appointed as New Zealand's honorary consul in Western Australia in 2013. He was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours, for "services to New Zealand–Australia relations".

### Net worth

Ellison became a notional billionaire in 2020, when shares in Mineral Resources hit a then record high.
| Year | Australian Financial Review Rich List | Australian Financial Review Rich List | Forbes Australia's 50 Richest | Forbes Australia's 50 Richest |
| Year | Rank | Net worth (A$) | Rank | Net worth (US$) |
| 2018 | 98 | $0.78 billion | | |
| 2019 | 148 | $0.66 billion | | |
| 2020 | 103 | $1.00 billion | | |
| 2021 | 87 | $1.29 billion | | |
| 2022 | 64 | $1.80 billion | | |
| 2023 | 55 | $2.25 billion | | |
Legend :
* Description
* Has not changed from the previous year
* Has increased from the previous year
* Has decreased from the previous year