Akshata Murty
Akshata Narayan Murty | |
---|---|
File:Akshata murthy (cropped).png Murty in 2019 | |
Born | April 1980 (age 44) |
Nationality | Indian |
Alma mater | Claremont McKenna College Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Stanford University (MBA) |
Known for | Spouse of the prime minister of the United Kingdom (since 2022) |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Parents |
|
Relatives | Rohan Murty (brother) |
Akshata Narayan Murty (born April 1980)[1][2] is a United Kingdom-based Indian businesswoman, fashion designer, venture capitalist and wife of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as of 2022.
She is the daughter of N. R. Narayana Murthy, a founder of the Indian multi-national IT company Infosys, and Sudha Murty. She holds a 0.93% stake in Infosys, making her one of the wealthiest women in the UK, along with shares in several other businesses in the UK.[3][4][5] She is a director of Digme Fitness and the Soroco that her brother Rohan Murty co-founded.[6]
She is married to British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak. Murty and Sunak are the 222nd richest people in Britain, with a combined fortune of £730m as of 2022.[7] Her personal wealth became the topic of British media discussion in the context of her claim of non-domiciled status in the UK.[8]
Early life and education
Murty was born in Hubli, India[3][2] and raised by her paternal grandparents as her father N. R. Narayana Murthy and her mother Sudha Murty worked to launch their technology company, Infosys.[9][2]
Her father is often described as the "father of the Indian IT sector" and came from middle class backgrounds. Murthy mentions that being arrested and expelled for no good reason during the communist era 1974 in a border town between the Yugoslav-Bulgarian border, turned him into a "compassionate capitalist" from a "confused leftist/communist", leading him to create Infosys.[10][11]
Her mother was the first female engineer to work for India's then largest car maker; she is now a philanthropist.[12]
She had a comparatively simple middle class upbringing in Jayanagar, a suburb of Bangalore, "with no birthday parties or much pocket money" in order to keep the family values intact.[13]
Murty attended Baldwin Girls' High School, Bangalore, and later studied economics and French at Claremont McKenna College in California; she has a diploma in clothes manufacturing from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising,[2] and a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University.[2]
She has one brother, Rohan Murty.[14]
Career and investments
In 2007, Murty joined Dutch cleantech firm Tendris as its marketing director, where she worked for two years, before leaving to start her own fashion firm.[2] Her fashion label closed in 2012.[3] In 2013, she became the director of venture capital fund Catamaran Ventures.[2] She co-founded, with her husband Rishi Sunak, the London branch of the Indian firm which is owned by her father, N. R. Narayana Murthy.[15] Sunak transferred his shares to her shortly before being elected as the Conservative MP for Richmond in 2015.[16] Since 2015, she has owned a 0.91%[3] or 0.93% share of her father's technology firm Infosys, valued at around £700 million in April 2022,[8] and shares in two of Jamie Oliver's restaurant businesses, Wendy's in India, Koro Kids and Digme Fitness.[6] She is a director of Digme Fitness and the UK subsidiary of Soroco, an IT business co-founded by her brother, Rohan Murty .[6]
Personal life
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Kirby_Sigston_Manor_and_Lake_%28geograph_2028063%29.jpg/220px-Kirby_Sigston_Manor_and_Lake_%28geograph_2028063%29.jpg)
Murty is an Indian citizen. In August 2009 Murty married Rishi Sunak, whom she met at Stanford University.[2][17] They have two daughters, Anoushka and Krishna.[8][14] They own Kirby Sigston Manor in the village of Kirby Sigston, North Yorkshire, as well as a mews house in Earl's Court in central London, a flat on the Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, and a penthouse apartment on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, California.[18][19][20][21][22] In April 2022, it was reported that Sunak and Murty had moved out of 11 Downing Street to a newly refurbished West London home.[23][24]
In April 2022 it was reported that she is a non-domiciled resident of the United Kingdom, which entitles her to pay no tax on her income outside Britain, subject to an annual payment of £30,000.[9][6][8] Murty announced that she would retain her non-domiciled status but pay UK tax on her worldwide income voluntarily.[25][26]
References
- ^ "Akshata Narayan Murty". Companies House. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bedi, Rahul; Bird, Steve (15 February 2020). "Why Rishi Sunak's wife may hold the clue to his budget". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ a b c d Neate, Rupert (7 April 2022). "Akshata Murty: Rishi Sunak's wife and richer than the Queen". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
- ^ "Rishi Sunak told to explain wife's alleged business links to Russia". The National. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ "Rishi Sunak's father-in-law's company Infosys is still active in Russia". CityAM. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ a b c d Neate, Rupert (7 April 2022). "The wealth of Akshata Murty, Indian heiress and wife of Rishi Sunak". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
- ^ "The Sunday Times Rich List 2022". www.thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Chancellor Rishi Sunak defends wife Akshata Murty in row over non-dom status". BBC News. 8 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
- ^ a b "Rishi Sunak faces questions over wife Akshata Murty's non-dom tax status". BBC News. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ "NR Narayana Murthy's life changing incident". businesstoday.in. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ^ "A woman's place is in the kitchen: My experience as the only girl in engineering school in 1968". 26 July 2017.
- ^ Blackall, Molly (7 April 2022). "The super-rich businesswoman and wife of Rishi Sunak under fire for using non-domicile status". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
- ^ Oct 25, Shilpa Phadnis / TNN / Updated:; 2022; Ist, 07:03. "From Bengaluru's first family to UK's first lady: The hidden Murty | Bengaluru News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
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has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "The 'IT' Crowd At Rohan Murty's Wedding; Infy Squad Turns Up In Suits, Kurtas – A Lot Like Love". The Economic Times. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ Hurley, James (2 October 2021). "Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murty lends £4.3m to start-up Catamaran Ventures". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ "Who is Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murty – and why are her family so wealthy?". Sky News. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
- ^ Neate, Rupert (3 April 2022). "Sunaks' £5m Santa Monica flat offers sun, sea ... and a pet spa". The Observer. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ "Inside The Fortune Of Britain's New Prime Minister Rishi Sunak And His Wife, Akshata Murthy". Forbes. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
- ^ "Chancellor Rishi Sunak has new pool, gym and tennis court approved". BBC News. 26 August 2021. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
- ^ Gadher, Dipesh. "New chancellor Rishi Sunak adds Downing Street address to his bulging property portfolio". The Times. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ Edwardes, Charlotte (1 August 2020). "Meet the chancellor: the real Rishi Sunak, by the people who know him best". The Times. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
- ^ Neate, Rupert (3 April 2022). "Sunaks' £5m Santa Monica flat offers sun, sea … and a pet spa". The Observer. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ "Rishi Sunak moves belongings out of Downing Street, says report". Business Standard. 10 April 2022. Archived from the original on 18 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
- ^ "Chancellor Rishi Sunak and family 'to spend less time at Downing Street'". ITV News. 9 April 2022. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
- ^ "Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murty gives up non-dom status and vows to pay UK tax on all income". 8 April 2022.
- ^ "Rishi Sunak's wife says she will pay UK tax on all her earnings". Financial Times. 8 April 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
External links
- Rishi Sunak's wife set to receive £6m from Infosys (EasternEye)
- 1980 births
- Living people
- Claremont McKenna College alumni
- Fashion Institute of Technology alumni
- Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni
- Indian company founders
- Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom
- Indian fashion designers
- Indian women company founders
- Murthy family
- Rishi Sunak
- Spouses of prime ministers of the United Kingdom
- 21st-century Indian businesswomen
- Indian women fashion designers