Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

London's No. 10 Downing Street Gets Its First Billionaire Family

London's No. 10 Downing Street Gets Its First Billionaire Family

Rishi Sunak's spouse Akshata Murty is the reason he's part of the first billionaire family atop British politics.

Rishi Sunak's elevation to the top of UK politics brings a number of firsts. He's the youngest prime minister in more than two centuries; the first Hindu to hold the office; and his family will -- in nominal terms -- be the wealthiest to occupy 10 Downing Street.

His spouse Akshata Murty is the reason he's part of the first billionaire family atop British politics, with investments spanning everything from a luxury furniture marketplace to an outfitter for students of Eton College.

Murty, 42, who was born in India and is still an Indian citizen, has a net worth of about $1 billion thanks largely to her stake in Infosys Ltd., the software giant founded by her father, according to an estimate by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Murty's net worth is larger than the roughly $400 million fortune of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Her son, King Charles III, formally appointed Sunak as prime minister on Tuesday.

The Bangalore-based company's shares have surged more than 1,500% since Murty was first publicly disclosed as a shareholder in 2001, though they have struggled this year in the face of a broad tech selloff as policymakers worldwide move to curb rising inflation.

Murty didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Her father, Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, congratulated Sunak in an emailed statement.

"We are proud of him and we wish him success," Murthy said. "We are confident he will do his best for the people of the United Kingdom."

Political Headache


The material blessings of his in-laws have proven a political headache at times.

The revelation in April that Murty enjoyed "non-domiciled" tax status in the UK, meaning she paid no local taxes on overseas income, made her wealth a contentious topic just as a cost-of-living crisis began to bite across Britain. The furore saw Sunak's approval ratings plunge and prompted her to commit to paying UK taxes on her global income.

Their wealth is likely to remain in the spotlight. Sunak is taking charge with the UK facing what he described as "profound economic challenge," with many worrying about how to pay for heating or even groceries. That could make him an easy target for opposition lawmakers, who have also seized on the fact Sunak spent the bulk of his private sector days working for hedge funds, including one of the financial industry's most prominent activist investors.

Murty has links to some of the world's richest families through her investment firm, Catamaran Ventures UK. She was an early backer of dara5, a private investment community for "the next generation of global leaders," co-founded in 2019 by a member of Qatar's ruling dynasty, the Al-Thani family.

Catamaran has also acquired a stake in luxury British furniture marketplace the New Craftsmen, whose shareholders include Rupert Murdoch's oldest daughter, Prudence, and the Al Tajir family, the Emirati owners of the Park Tower hotel in London's Knightsbridge district.

Murty has been directly involved in some of her UK investments. She became a director in 2017 of New & Lingwood, an outfitter for students of England's prestigious Eton College -- former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's alma mater -- which charges tuition fees of about £45,000 a year. She stepped down from the role in February.

Catamaran Ventures is the name of Murty and her family's main investment entity, based in Bangalore, which employs about 15 staff in India overseeing holdings worth more than $1 billion spanning e-sports, insurance and Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Murty and Sunak met while studying for MBAs at Stanford University in mid-2000s. Sunak has said that he took certain classes just to be able to sit next to Akshata. The two married in the summer of 2009 in a wedding in Bangalore attended by thousands. They still own a property in California, a penthouse overlooking the ocean.

Sunak's elevation is drawing plenty of attention in India. After the news broke, a huge swarm of TV cameramen and reporters thronged the Murthys' home in Bangalore and Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulations.

Sunak may get inspiration from his father-in-law's approach to business.

In private, Sunak has said many times that he tries to live by his father-in-law's favored one-liner while building Infosys: "In god we trust, everybody else brings data to the table."

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz: “The Current Welfare State Can No Longer Be Financed”
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
Wizz Air passengers screamed as storm-battered flight diverts to Bologna
European postal services halt U.S. deliveries after Trump imposes new tariffs
Urban explorer finds abandoned luxury restaurant left to decay
Fidesz leader labels Péter Magyar a ‘bluffer’ amid escalating political spat
French rope park operator arrested for denying entry to Israeli children
Újpest thrashes Zalaegerszeg 4-1 to secure first win in five matches
Profit-margin cap costs retailers 13 billion forints a month, warns trade group
Curiosity rover finds coral-like rock on Mars hinting at watery past
U.S. green policy rollback drives investors to Europe’s sustainable finance market
Special funerals rise in Hungary: boat, aerial and forest burials gain popularity
Hungary’s Kiskunság region turning into semi-desert after extreme drought
Kopasz Bálint wins world kayak 1000 m title in Milan, making him triple world champion
Budapest’s Keleti railway station to close for four weeks for track overhaul
Balaton could be unfit for swimming by 2035 and dry by 2050, scientists warn
Leaked guidelines show Meta’s AI allowed flirty and racist interactions with children
Filming of ‘Emily in Paris’ halted after assistant director dies on set
Filipino guest workers sue after Hungary moves to deport them for pregnancy
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
A monster hit and a billion-dollar toy empire
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
Canada: Nurse Suspended and Fined 93 Thousand Dollars After Stating the World’s Most Well-Known Fact Since the Creation of Adam and Eve, That There Are Only Two Genders
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Whitney Bessent Backs Stablecoins to Boost Treasury Demand
Spain to Declare Disaster Zones After Massive Wildfires
Three-Minute Battery Swap Touted as Future of EVs
Beijing Military Parade to Showcase Weapons Advances
×