He makes history: Rishi Sunak is the first person of color and the first practicing Hindu to hold the office of British Prime Minister. Also, at 42, Sunak is younger than all of his predecessors apart from William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806), who was 24 at the time. The new prime minister is even said to be richer than King Charles III. (73). However, Sunak's wife brought a large part of the fortune into the marriage: Akshata Murthy.
Murthy and Sunak met at Stanford University. The 42-year-old is the daughter of Indian billionaire N. R. Narayana Murthy, who is often referred to as the Bill Gates (66) of India and co-founded the software company Infosys, one of the largest companies in India, which according to the BBC is active in around 50 countries . According to Forbes magazine estimates, Narayana Murthy's net worth is £4.4 billion - the equivalent of more than €5.1 billion.
Former fashion designer Murthy and her brother Rohan were largely raised by their paternal grandparents as their parents pursued their careers, according to the Mail Online. After graduating from high school, Murthy moved to the United States, where she earned degrees in business and French from Claremont McKenna College in California and studied at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. She then switched to studying for an MBA at the renowned Stanford University.
Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murthy married in 2009, four years after they first met, in their Indian hometown of Bengaluru. 1,000 guests were invited to the two-day ceremony. They lived in India for four years and moved to the UK in 2013. Their £7million townhouse in Kensington is just one of several properties they own. The two daughters, Krishna and Anoushka, made the family happiness complete.
In an interview with The Times in August, Sunak gave a little insight into his marriage. He and Murthy are like brimstone. The biggest difference is in the housework. "I'm incredibly neat, she's very messy," he said. "I'm a lot more organized, she's more spontaneous. She's not going to love me for saying that, but I'll be honest, she's not that into tidying up...clothes...and shoes everywhere...oh God, shoes," said the politician.
Murthy reportedly owns shares in her father's company that are worth around £700million. Her personal fortune is estimated at around £430 million, according to the Metro newspaper. The late Queen Elizabeth II was worth £350 million.
Murty is also a director of Catamaran Ventures UK, which invests in start-ups, according to her LinkedIn profile. She and Sunak founded the company in 2013, according to the BBC. Sunak stepped down as director in 2015 when he became an MP. A year later, his wife became the majority shareholder. In 2020, Catamaran Ventures UK put the value of its investments at £3.5 million (a good four million euros).
In April this year, it emerged that Murthy is not resident in the UK, meaning she does not have to pay tax on her international earnings in exchange for paying an annual fee of £30,000. Without that status, she would have had to pay more than £20m (€23m) in UK levies on those earnings, it has been reported. Following a public outcry, Murthy's spokesman announced that she would pay tax in the UK on her overseas earnings to ease the political pressure on her husband.
Sunak was also able to amass a considerable fortune during his time as an investment banker and hedge fund manager. In total, the combined fortune of the new PM and First Lady is estimated at £730 million (about €838 million) - double the estimated fortune of King Charles III. and King Consort Camilla (75) from £300m to £350m. Murty and Sunak are ranked 222nd out of 250 on The Times' 2022 Rich List.
