The news of Rishi Sunak becoming the first Indian-origin Prime minister of the United Kingdom is winning the internet. There is one more thing that is drawing the attention of the masses. It is Akshata Murthy, the wife of the first British Asian Prime minister. She owns a fortune estimated to be more than King Charles III and is an heiress to a fortune worth billions. We will discuss everything about Akshata Murty in this article.
Here are some interesting facts about Akshata Murthy that you will be amazed to know:
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1. Akshata was born in April 1980 in Hubli, India
Akshata Murthy age is 42 years as of 2022. She was raised by her paternal grandparents as her parents were busy setting up their IT company and moved to Mumbai.
N. R. Narayana Murthy with Rohan and Akshata. wikibio
2. Who are Akshata Murthy parents?
Akshata Murthy father is the Indian billionaire Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of Infosys, one of the most well-known businessmen in the country who is also known as the Bill Gates of India. Her mother is Sudha Murty who was apparently Tata Motors’ first female engineer. Sudha Murty is now chairperson of the Infosys Foundation.
Akshata also has a brother Rohan Murty.
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Akshata Murty with Her Parents and Brother. wikibio
3. Though Rishi Sunak wife Akshata comes from a rich family, her parents struggled a lot to build the empire
In a compilation published in 2013, Legacy: Letters from Eminent Parents to their Daughters in a letter to his daughter, her father reminisced how he heard the news of her birth from a colleague because the family could not afford a telephone.
He also wrote,
“Your mother and I were young then and struggling to find our feet in our careers”
4. To make sure Akshata and her brother focus on the studies they had no TV in their home
Akshata’s mother Sudha Murty and father N. R. Narayana Murthy were high-achieving parents. Her father once mentioned that there was no TV in their home so they make time for “things like studying, reading, discussions and meeting friends”.
5. Akshata Murty studied MBA at the prestigious Stanford University
She studied Economics and French in California at the private liberal Claremont McKenna College. She worked at Deloitte and Unilever and before that she got a diploma from a fashion college. She went on to study MBA at Stanford University.
6. She launched her own fashion label, Akshata Designs in 2010 which was short-lived
The 42-year-old started her career in finance in California. Then she launched her first collection in 2011 from her own fashion label, Akshata Designs. She told Vogue India her designs are about, “authenticity, craftsmanship, and protecting a rich heritage”. She also worked with artists from remote villages in India.
As reported by the Guardian the business crumpled within a span of three years.
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7. Miss Murthy grabbed attention when she agreed to pay UK taxes on her worldwide income
Akshata held non-domiciled status so she was not obliged to pay any tax on her gains from outside the UK. But earlier this year she decided to pay for her worldwide income to satisfy some of the angry public that targeted her husband politically.
She tweeted,
“I do this because I want to, not because the rules require me to”
She also added,
“My decision… will not change the fact that India remains the country of my birth, citizenship, parents’ home and place of domicile. But I love the UK too.”
8. How Akshata Murty met Rishi Sunak?
The couple met in the United States at Stanford University when she was pursuing her MBA. The new UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak was a Fulbright scholar with a first-class degree from Oxford.
Mentioning the differences between the background of his and Akshata’s, Sunak said,
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“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.”
9. Akshata and Rishi marriage and children
The couple had a relatively modest wedding in 2009. The reception was grand and about 1,000 guests attended it including industrialists, politicians, and cricketers.
Narayana Murthy once mentioned in a letter to Akshata praising her choice by saying,
“all that you had described him to be — brilliant, handsome, and, most importantly, honest.”
10. Rishi and Akshata have two daughters Anoushka Sunak and Krishna Sunak and the family leads a lavish life
Their extraordinary wealth hasn’t been overlooked by the British media at a time when ordinary people are struggling. This led to a lot of controversies.
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It has been reported that the couple spent 400,000 pounds on a swimming pool at their country pad in August. It was just before Sunak’s bid to become the PM of the UK. Earlier, controversies arose when Sunak was spotted wearing a Prada loafer during his visit to a construction site.
11. Ms. Murty and Mr. Sunak in 2013 founded the London-based offshoot of Catamaran Ventures which was one of the main interests of Akshata
She was also keen on investing in start-ups. Akshata Murty is also listed as a director of Digme Fitness, a pay-as-you-go gym chain on Companies House.
It is also mentioned in Akshata Murthy LinkedIn profile that she is the director of New & Lingwood, which trades high-end menswear.
12. According to Infosys’s latest annual report, Akshata owns a 0.9% stake in the company which is worth £700 million in April 2022
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the firm was under pressure to halt its operations in Moscow and her shares in the company became a subject of controversy. The BBC was told in April that Infosys was closing its office in Russia.
13. Akshata surpassed the personal wealth of the late Queen Elizabeth II which was mentioned by the Sunday Times Rich List as about $460 million by 2021
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Akshata Murthy net worth is around $1.2billion.
14. Murty and Sunak own a 7 million pound five-bedroom house in Kensington, London, a flat in Santa Monica, California, and have at least four properties.
15. As mentioned in the Sunday Times Rich List, Rishi Sunak with his wife, Akshata Murthy, have a combined fortune of £730 million.
The media bought Akshata Murthy into the spotlight through recent controversies. Now that she is the wife of Rishi Sunak who has the top job in British politics, the interest in Ms. Murty is inevitable.
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