Rishi Sunak, 42, has sparked a lot of conversation in India-not only for becoming the youngest and first prime minister of Indian origin in Britain but also for being the husband of Akshata Murthy. Akshata is the daughter of Indian IT company Infosys co-founders Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murthy.
Akshata Murty, the First Lady of the United Kingdom, is a Bengalurian and was born in Hubballi in northern Karnataka. A graduate with a dual major in economics and French from Claremont McKenna College in California, Akshata is a fashion designer with a design diploma from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. She thereafter went on to pursue an MBA at Stanford, where she met Rishi Sunak, and the two were married in 2019 in a traditional South Indian ceremony. The couple has two children, Krishna and Anoushka.
Akshata owns a menswear fashion label in the UK, Akshata Designs, and launched her first collection in 2011. She also worked for a short period at Deloitte and Unilever.
Stakes in Infosys and tax breaks
While Sunak is a British national, Akshata is an Indian citizen, and her non-domiciled status allows her to earn money abroad without paying taxes in Britain for a period of up to 15 years.
This has been a divisive issue in the UK. The couple triggered controversy over their inclusion in the rich list after it was revealed that his wife was sheltered from paying tax on foreign earnings to his Treasury department after claiming so-called non-domiciled status.
As per reports, Akanksha's non-dom status had saved her approximately £20 million in taxes on dividends from her shares in Infosys. So far in 2022, Akshata has earned USD 15.3 million in dividend income from her shareholding in Infosys.
Couple is also owning real estate portfolio in the UK and California
In addition, the couple is also in the news for owning a vast real estate portfolio in the UK and California. In addition, Akshata has a £721-million stake in Infosys, and as per an estimation made earlier this year, Rishi Sunak's wife was richer than Queen Elizabeth II, whose personal wealth was estimated at £350 million.
As per the shareholding pattern on the BSE, Akshata Murthy has 3,89,57,096 equity shares, a 0.93% stake in the top Indian IT company as of the end of the September 2022 quarter.
Rishi Sunak has become the third prime minister from the Conservative Party, replacing Liz Truss after seven weeks of tenure this year. On Tuesday, he will be installed as Britain's third prime minister this year, replacing the humiliated Liz Truss after just seven weeks and inheriting a daunting array of problems.
Sunak on Sunday won the race to lead the Conservative Party and is now set to become Britain's first prime minister of Indian origin and its youngest leader in modern times.
