Inside Fortescue’s billion-dollar bet to decarbonize mining—and help rebuild Ukraine

By Andrew Forrest’s account, the childhood bullying he suffered at the hands of bigger kids explains a lot about how his life has turned out. Growing up on a remote cattle ranch in Western Australia, “I was a very skinny kid. I got the nickname ‘Twiggy,’ ” Forrest says in a hotel in London. “I used to have to stand up to bullies.” Forrest never stopped fighting powerful forces. Now 64, the executive chairman of $17 billion iron ore giant Fortescue is intent on upturning age-old practices in the heavily polluting $3 trillion mining industry. He’s waged a five-year legal fight against Meta over deepfake ads that used his image to promote a crypto scam and other sham investments on Facebook. When Russia invaded its far smaller neighbor in February 2022, igniting Europe’s deadliest war in generations, he was galvanized. He has worn Ukraine’s flag pin ever since, and he’s plowing tens of millions of dollars into supporting Ukraine through years of war. Nor did he hold back when the White House slammed one of his impassioned environmental speeches last January as “vague, radical left-wing climate goals.” Forrest’s response: “I am entitled to say whatever I damn well wish.” So…