Rishi Sunak's mega-wealthy wife and in-laws

Akshata Murty the Indian wife of Britains next Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is fabulously rich thanks to her billionaire father a fortune that is attracting controversy as ordinary people reel from a costofliving crisisSunaks fatherinlaw NR Narayana Murthy 76 cofounded tech giant Infosys in 1981 The outsourcing behemoth now worth around 75 billion helped drive Indias transformation into the back office of the worldOne of only two nonAmericans in Fortune magazines 2012 list of the 12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time the Infosys chiefs lifechanging moment came in 1974 when he was locked up for four nights in communist Eastern EuropeThat cured me from being a confused leftist to a determined compassionate capitalist Narayana said afterwardsSunaks motherinlaw Sudha meanwhile was Tata Motors first female engineer after famously complaining via a postcard to the chairman about the firms stipulation that lady candidates need not applyAlso read In Photos 6 Facts about Indianorigin Rishi Sunak who is elected as UKs PMRegarded as Indias favourite granny she is a prolific author and a powerful force in social work setting up 60000 libraries and building 16000 toilets and is reputed to be humble despite her own immense wealthDoctors sonSudha ensured an austere upbringing for her children Akshata and Rohan with no television at home and insisting they go to school in an autorickshaw like their classmatesAtypically for classconscious India where arranged marriages are still common the couple were fine with Murtys comparatively humble choice of husband a doctors son from Southampton named Rishi SunakIn a letter Murtys father who spells his surname differently to his daughter said Sunak was all that you had described him to be brilliant handsome and most importantly honestThe couple met at Stanford University in the United States when Murty was pursuing her MBA The future prime minister was a Fulbright scholar with a firstclass degree from OxfordTheir 2009 wedding was a relatively modest affair by the standards of Indias wellheeled but the reception was attended by about 1000 guests including politicians industrialists and cricketersAlso Read India Pakistan on cusp of history to share pride as Sunak likely to be PMNondomMurtys stake in Infosys is worth around 700 million making her richer than the late Queen Elizabeth II whose personal wealth was estimated at about 460 million by the 2021 Sunday Times Rich ListThe 42yearold has also earned tens of millions in dividends in recent years but her nondomicile status in the UK shielded some of this income from British taxesTo assuage some of the resulting public anger that hurt her husband politically Murty said in April that she would pay UK tax on all her worldwide incomeI do this because I want to not because the rules require me to she tweeted 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 tooThe couple who have two daughters and a photogenic dog remain extremely rich and their lavish lifestyle hasnt gone unnoticed by the British media at a time when ordinary people are strugglingIn August reports said that they were spending pound400000 on a swimming pool at their country pad In July Sunak wore Prada loafers on a campaign visit to a rubblestrewn construction siteNonmaterialisticMurty and Sunak own at least four properties including a pound7 million fivebedroom house in Kensington London They also own a flat in Santa Monica CaliforniaShe dabbled in finance and marketing before creating her own fashion label Akshata Designs in 2010According to a 2011 Vogue profile Murty works with artists in remote villages to create IndianmeetsWestern fusion clothes that are vehicles to discovering Indian cultureI believe we live in a materialistic society she told the magazine People are becoming more conscious about the world they live in Doing good is fashionableThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever