All about Akshata Murthy, UK PM contender Rishi Sunak's millionaire wife
India Today
As Rishi Sunak braces for the race of UK's Prime Minster, his wife Akshata Murthy has also come into the spotlight.
Akshata Murthy, wife of Britain’s former chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak and daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayan Murthy and chairperson Sudha Murthy has been in the spotlight after Rishi Sunak’s lead in the upcoming prime minister elections in Britain.
Akshata, a fashion designer, met Rishi Sunak while studying at Stanford. The two got married in a two-day ceremony in Bengaluru, in 2009.
The 42-year-old also came under scrutiny earlier this year due to her wealth, tax status and links to Russia. She had a non-domicile status and did not pay taxes on her income outside Britain. Following the controversy, she said she would no longer avail the non-domicile status and would pay taxes on her income outside Britain.
It is reported that before becoming the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak transferred some of his company shares to Akshata’s name. Akshata has a stake in her father, Narayan Murthy’s company Infosys, now worth almost 80 billion dollars. The company has offices in Russia.
Once Russia invaded Ukraine, UK businesses that earned from Russia were frowned upon. Sunak was pulled for his wife’s income on that account to which he said, “I’m an electedpolitician and I’m here to talk to you about what I’m responsible for.” He denied he or his family were profiting from any business with Russia.”
Later a spokesperson for Infosys told a news channel, “Infosys supports and advocates for peace between Russia and Ukraine. Infosys has a small team of employees based out of Russia, that services some of our global clients, locally. We do not have any active business relationships with local Russian enterprises.”
Akshata is an Indian citizen which entitles her to not pay taxes on her overseas income in the UK. In her case, this income runs into millions. With just 0.93 per cent stake which is worth around £690 million in her father’s tech company Infosys, her dividends come close to £11.6 million.
