Akshata Murty

About

Heiress, business executive, former fashion designer, and venture capitalist most famous for being the wife of Rishi Sunak, who assumed office as UK Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader in October 2022. After walking away from her defunct clothing label in 2012, she became the co-founder and venture capital fund director for a London offshoot of Catamaran Ventures, the investment fund created by her father to finance Indian healthcare/nutrition and education startups. Her share purchasing continued with Dara5, a contemporary artifact investment firm which was backed by Qatar's powerful Al-Thani family. Her shareholdings also included Carousel Ventures and 3 businesses which eventually became insolvent in the face of looming debts, all 4 of which received substantial financing from Rishi Sunak's Future Fund. The Future Fund fell under heavy scrutiny for spending millions on failed firms and asserting misrepresented claims about its success to the House of Commons.   

Before Fame

She grew up in Hubli, India, and was raised primarily by grandparents as her parents concentrated on the establishment of the Infosys technology company. Before the massive success that Infosys would eventually achieve, her family faced such financial troubles that they did not even own a telephone and her father had to learn the news of her birth from an associate. She earned a degree in clothes manufacturing from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising before receiving the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to attend Stanford University in California. She graduated in 2006 with a Master of Business Administration degree.

Trivia

Her and her husband's financial assets received backlash after 2022, when they were both named on the Sunday Times Rich List as the 222nd richest people in England at the time. Their combined worth was estimated to be the equivalent of £730 million, or $91.8 million USD; although if her share in her parents' company is considered, her sole net worth has been estimated at between £3 and £51 billion, which equates to an amount between $4 and $63.6 billion USD. This came under fire particularly because, as a native of India, she claimed non-domiciled resident status and therefore paid no tax on any income made outside of the UK. She did, however, follow the inquiry into her affairs with a voluntary renouncement of the financial benefits from her non-domiciled status, and a pledge to remit payment for UK taxes on the income she received both domestically and internationally.

Family Life

She is the daughter of Infosys IT company founders Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murty. She has a brother named Rohan Murty, who is a co-founder of the Soroco digital transformation company. She and Rushi Sunak met when they were just 24 years old, while attending Stanford University together. In 2009, they wed in Bangalore, India, at a ceremony which lasted 2 consecutive days. They later became the parents of 2 daughters - Anoushka and Krishna, both of whom attended the esteemed Glendower Preparatory School with classmate Harper Beckham. 

Associated With

She has invested in a scattering of restaurant businesses owned by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. Her net worth became a subject of widespread debate after it was estimated that, in 2022, she was wealthier than both Elizabeth II and King Charles III.