How much wealth does the new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife have?

Text by Giacomo Tognini

After winning the Conservative Party leadership race, Rishi Sunak will become Britain's next prime minister and the most powerful man in the country. The 42-year-old former finance minister and investment banker is already one of Britain's wealthiest, thanks in large part to the wealth held by his wife, Akshata Murthy.

Akshata Murthy, 42, is the co-founder and retired chairman of Indian tech giant Infosys. Daughter of Narayana Murthy. Forbes estimates Narayana Murti's fortune at $4.5 billion. Akshata Murthy holds a 0.93% stake in the listed digital services consulting firm, worth $715 million, making up the vast majority of her and Rishi Sunak's combined wealth. Forbes estimates the couple's combined fortune at about $810 million — more than King Charles III's $500 million. The two did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

As Britain's new prime minister, Rishi Sunak will move to 10 Downing Street, next door to his former home when he was Boris Johnson's chancellor from February 2020 to July this year. He also has access to Chequers Manor, a 16th-century country house in Buckinghamshire for the Prime Minister on duty.

Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murthy were married over two days in Bangalore, India, in August 2009 and have two daughters. Like the Queen of England, the couple also have their own personal real estate portfolio, with four properties in the UK and California worth about $18.3 million.

Their largest collection is Manor House, a 19th-century, heritage-listed two-storey country mansion in the village of Kirby Sigston in north Yorkshire, which they bought in July 2015 for $2.3 million. The couple reportedly spent $450,000 to build a recreation center with a 40-foot swimming pool, gym and outdoor tennis courts. In London, the duo's main home is a four-bedroom townhouse at 16 Hesper Mews in Kensington, which they bought for $7.1 million in 2010. Rishi Sunak also owns an apartment on Old Brompton Road near South Kensington, which he bought in September 2001 for about $300,000. The couple met while studying at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and reportedly owned a $7.5 million waterfront penthouse at Ocean Ave 1705 Santa Monica, California.

In addition to real estate, Akshata Murthy owns the most assets. In addition to her stake in Infosys, she owns Catamaran Ventures UK, the UK arm of her father's venture capital and private equity firm. In its latest annual report, the company announced its net worth of $4 million, plus an interest-free loan of $4.8 million from Akshata Murthy himself. Rishi Sunak previously owned 50 percent of the company but transferred his shares to his wife shortly before entering parliament in April 2015.

Catamaran Ventures UK owns stakes in luxury furniture trading platform The New Crafts and online florist Bloom & Wild, which is also owned by Prudence MacLeod, Rupert Murdoch's eldest son, Pitchbook reported. Catamaran Ventures UK's investments include wireless fetal monitoring device maker Monica Healthcare and veterinary MRI scanner maker Hallmarq. Akshata Murti's company was also reportedly an early investor in DARA5, a private investment firm set up by a member of Qatar's ruling family. Catamaran Ventures UK's main fund in India is run by Akshata Murthy's father, and its more than $1 billion has included SpaceX, Reddit and gaming company Loco.

Some of Akshata Murti's business ventures have not been so successful. She has a fashion brand in California, Akshata Designs, founded in 2010 and closed two years later; She is also a director and has a small stake in boutique fitness chain Digme Fitness, which was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and forced to close two of its six stores earlier this year. She also serves on the boards of Soroco, a software company founded by her brother Rohan, child care providers Koru Kids and New & Lingwood. New & Lingwood is a gentlemen's outfitters that makes high-end menswear, including a $195 "psychedelic silk smoking cap."

Earlier this year, when Rishi Sunak was UK Chancellor of the Exchequer and government's second-in-command, Akshata Murthy's tax situation came under scrutiny. As an Indian citizen, she is a tax resident in her home country. She confirmed in April that she had "undomiciled" status in the UK, which allowed her to avoid paying dividends and capital gains taxes in the UK. Akshata Murthy told the BBC through a spokesperson that she maintains this status by paying around $34,000 a year, as a fee would need to be paid if a person has lived in the UK for at least 7 of the last 9 years.

Forbes estimates that from 2015 to 2022, Akshata Murthy received $70 million (before taxes) in dividends from Infosys and $17 million from the sale of shares in December 2017. India's dividend and long-term capital gains tax rate is 10%, while the UK's capital gains tax rate is 20%, and the dividend tax rate for the highest earners is as high as 39.35%. That means Akshata Murthy may have saved about $22 million in taxes through India's lower tax rates. Following a public outcry, her spokesperson announced in April that Akshata Murthy would begin paying taxes to the UK "immediately" on her worldwide income, including dividends and capital gains, and on income from the previous tax year.

Through a company in Mauritius, Akshata Murthy has also invested in his native India. Mauritius is an island nation in the Indian Ocean and is often described as a tax haven. She holds a 5% stake in International Market Management, a British company that owns 100% of Mauritius-based Imassociates Mauritius. According to an investigation by The Guardian, Imassociates Mauritius holds a 50 per cent stake in Sierra Nevada Restaurants, an Indian company that operates four Wendy's burger joints in New Delhi. In addition, Imassociates Mauritius owns a 100% stake in Dolomite Restaurants, which owns 11 restaurants in India by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. According to an analysis by experts from the Indian Revenue Service, investing through a Mauritius-based company could limit capital gains and dividend taxes for the company's shareholders in India.

Although Rishi Sunak is not as wealthy as his wife, he worked in the financial sector for more than a decade before entering politics in May 2015 and being elected to Parliament for the Richmond constituency of Yorkshire, and his official financial disclosures rarely go into detail: his financial assets slip only says he has a "confidentiality trust/confidentiality management agreement".

Born in Southampton to Indian immigrants from East Africa, Rishi Sunak attended the luxury Winchester College boarding school and worked as a waitress at an Indian restaurant during his summers. He then studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University before spending three years at Goldman Sachs. After earning his MBA from Stanford University in 2006, he became a partner at the London hedge fund Children's Investment Fund (TCIF), which was founded and run by billionaire Chris Hohn.

In 2009, Rishi Sunak left TCIF to join the Santa Monica, California-based Theleme Partners fund, which was founded by former TCIF co-founder Patrick Degorce, who holds less than 5 percent of the company. According to the latest disclosure form filed in February 2013, the company manages $2.2 billion in assets. In 2013, he left Theleme Partners to start Catamaran Ventures UK with his wife.

It's not clear how much money Rishi Sunak has made in the financial industry, but his new job as prime minister has brought a considerable raise: He now earns more than $185,000 a year, almost double the $95,000 salary of a congressman.