Meet Akshata Murty, UK PM Rishi Sunak’s millionaire wife and Infosys' Narayana Murthy's daughter

Rishi Sunak is all set to take over as the first Indian-origin British Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Sunak’s campaign for the top position was quite eventful. The one person who stood rock solid beside him was his life partner Akshata Murty, the daughter of Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy and philanthropist Sudha Murthy.

Murty met Sunak at the US’ Stanford University where they were studying together almost 18 years back. Sunak was in Stanford on the prestigious Fulbright scholarship. Talking about his better half, Sunak said at a concert venue in Wembley, “You know what you mean to me, and I am incredibly grateful that 18 years ago you chose to give up your high heels and take a chance on the short kid with a backpack.”

The two got married in 2009 and have two daughters -- Anoushka and Krishna.

Akshata Murty and Rishi Sunak’s net worth

Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty have a combined net worth of £730 million as of 2022, as per the UK Rich List 2022. Akshata owns 0.93 per cent of stake or 3.89 crore shares in Infosys and receives dividends from the IT services major. She earned Rs 126.61 crore or $15.3 million in dividend income in 2022 from her shareholding in the IT bellwether, according to the company's filings with the stock exchanges.

Properties owned by Akshata Murty and Rishi Sunak

The couple own around four homes in the UK and in California, including a five-room house in Kensington worth nearly ￡7 million, a 12-acre Georgian mansion in Yorkshire worth ￡1.5 million, a Santa Monica beach penthouse worth almost £5.5 million and a flat on west London’s Old Brompton Road, British publication The Guardian reported.

Also read: Rishi Sunak, first Indian-origin PM of Britain: Key facts

Akshata Murty’s businesses

She began her career in the field of finance in California before starting her fashion label Akshata Designs in 2009. Akshata Designs launched its first collection in 2011, almost two years before shutting down. According to Murty’s LinkedIn, Akshata Designs is a womenswear brand aimed at preserving India’s ancient craft traditions through contemporary fashion designs and production techniques.

Murthy is one of the directors at the British menswear brand New & Lingwood and Digme Fitness, a pay-as-you-go gym chain. Apart from this, she is also a director at the UK offshoot of Catamaran Ventures, founded by Sunak and Murthy in 2013, and provides funding to startups across asset classes.

Non-domicile status controversy

She was at the centre of a controversy when the opposition Labour Party targeted over using her non-domicile tax status as a way to save millions in tax. Murthy said in a statement at the time, “This arrangement is entirely legal and how many non-domiciled people are taxed in the UK. But it has become clear that many do not feel it is compatible with my husband’s role as Chancellor. I understand and appreciate the British sense of fairness and I do not wish my tax status to be a distraction for my husband or to affect my family.”

Sunak came out in support of his wife and remarked, “To smear my wife to get at me is awful. And if she was living here and didn’t just happen to be married to me, this obviously would not be at all relevant.”

Also read: Anand Mahindra shares Winston Churchill’s 1947 quote on Indians after Rishi Sunak elected UK PM

Also read: ‘He will do his best’: Infosys founder Narayana Murthy congratulates son-in-law Rishi Sunak on becoming UK PM