Akshata Murty: Who is Rishi Sunak's wife and is she a billionaire?!

Rishi Sunak met Akshata Murty at Stanford when he was studying there on a Fulbright scholarship. 

Rishi Sunak has become the UK's new prime minister after a rapid leadership contest saw him elevated to the top office less than a week after predecessor Liz Truss resigned.

The former chancellor and investment banker becomes the first PM of colour in British history and the youngest for more than 200 years.

Sunak's wife, Akshata Murty, is the wealthy daughter of an Indian billionaire and has already found herself embroiled in political controversy over her tax affairs. Yahoo News UK profiles her and how the couple acquired their immense wealth.

Who is Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murty?

Murty, 42, was born in Hubli, to Indian tech billionaire Narayana Murthy who founded the IT company Infosys; the company is now estimated to be worth around £67.6bn.

Time magazine has described him as the "father" of India's IT sector, with an estimated net worth of around £4bn.

Murty studied at Baldwin Girls' High School in Bangalore, India and then moved to California where she studied economics and French at Claremont McKenna College.

Akshata Murty's father, Narayana Murthy, has been described as the Bill Gates of India. 

Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty made the Sunday Times Rich List 2022.

She later attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising before heading to Stanford University where she gained a Master of Business Administration (MBA).

It was at Stanford where she met Sunak, who was there on a Fulbright scholarship.

Sunak and Murty married in her hometown of Bengaluru in 2009, and have two children - Anoushka and Krishna.

The pair have four homes including a £1.5m mansion in Sunak's constituency of Richmond (Yorkshire), a £6.6m townhouse in Kensington, London, and a home in Santa Monica, California, which has an estimated value of £5.5m.

What's her net worth and how did she make her wealth?

In 2007, she worked as a marketing director at tech company Tendris before starting her own fashion company which closed in 2012.

After the closure of her fashion company, she became the director of Catamaran Ventures, an Indian venture capital fund, where she co-founded the London branch with Sunak - which is owned by her father.

Murty owns a 0.91% share of her father's technology company, Infosys, worth around £615m as of October 2022.

Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty have two young daughters, Krishna and Anoushka.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Akshata Murty has a net worth of over £1bn.

The business woman also owns shares in Jamie Oliver's restaurant businesses, as well as Wendy's, Koro Kids, and is director of Digme fitness.

According to Bloomberg, Murty has a total net worth of £1.06bn.

However, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2022, Sunak and Murty's combined net worth at £730m - making the incoming prime minister the wealthiest MP in parliament.
Why has Murty been criticised?

Murty came under intense scrutiny in April 2022 after it emerged she was registered as a non-domiciled resident of the UK which could have enabled her to avoid millions of pounds in tax.

After intense political pressure and backlash from the public, Murty announced she was changing her tax arrangements.

"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," she said in April.

"For this reason, I will no longer be claiming the remittance basis for tax."

Murty has also come under criticism after it emerged Infosys was still operating in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.