Rishi Sunak's family fortune takes £230MILLION hit
Rishi’s family fortune takes £230MILLION hit after shares in Indian billionaire father-in-law’s firm slump
- Rishi Sunak enjoys huge wealth thanks to his wife’s stake in IT giant Infosys
- Akshata Murty owns 0.93% of Indian tech company founded by her father
- Couple’s fortune took a hit after the Infosys share price plummeted since March
- Ex-chancellor is currently frontrunner in contest to replace Boris Johnson as PM
Rishi Sunak’s family fortune has taken a £230million hit over the past three-and-a-half months due to a slump in the share price of his father-in-law’s firm.
The ex-chancellor, who is the frontrunner to replace Boris Johnson as Tory leader, enjoys huge wealth thanks to his wife’s stake in IT giant Infosys.
The Indian tech company was founded by N.R. Narayana Murthy, the billionaire father of Mr Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty.
She owns 0.93 per cent of Infosys in her own name, while Mr Sunak and Ms Murty also have their own investment firm called Catamaran Ventures.
As well as the couple’s joint interests, Mr Sunak is believed to have accumulated a small fortune from his past career as a banker.
But he and his wife’s vast wealth has taken a hit since the end of March, after the Infosys share price plummeted.
On 30th March, Infosys shares were worth $25.14 but are now only worth £18.18, as of yesterday.
The share price fall has seen billions wiped off the value of the company. And the value of Ms Murty’s own holding has fallen by around £230million during that period.
Her stake in her father’s firm is now worth around £600million.
The steepest fall in the Infosys share price came in April, after the company announced profits below expectations.
But the fall is unlikely to have perturbed the firm, or Ms Murty, too much as the value of Infosys had previously soared during the Covid pandemic.
On 30th March, Infosys shares were worth $25.14 but are now only worth £18.18, as of yesterday
Rishi Sunak, who is the frontrunner to replace Boris Johnson as Tory leader, enjoys huge wealth thanks to his wife’s stake in IT giant Infosys
The Indian tech company was founded by N.R. Narayana Murthy, the father of Mr Sunak’s spouse Akshata Murty
Ms Murty’s holding in Infosys became widely known in early April when she was forced to admit she held non-dom tax status in the UK.
This was estimated to have saved her from having to pay millions of pounds to HMRC each year, even while her husband was in charge of the Treasury.
The row threatened to derail Mr Sunak’s political career, with his popularity plummeting in the weeks after the tax row.
Further scrutiny of his financial arrangements came when it was revealed he held a US Green Card for more than 18 months after becoming Chancellor.
In a bid to end the row over her tax status – and salvage her husband’s political fortunes – Ms Murty has since agreed to pay UK tax on her global fortune.
As well as he and his wife’s investment firm, and their large holding in Infosys, Mr Sunak also has a blind trust managing his financial interests.
He set this up in 2019 before he became Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Under a standard blind trust arrangement, individuals can still receive income from their investments but cannot make decisions about how the money is invested.
Labour has previously urged Mr Sunak to be ‘completely transparent’ about whether any of the funds he invested in a blind trust are held in offshore tax havens.
As well as his wife’s holding in Infosys, Mr Sunak and Ms Murty also have their own investment firm called Catamaran Ventures
The couple’s property portfolio includes a Kensington mews house, a west London flat, a manor house in Mr Sunak’s Yorkshire constituency (pictured), and a California penthouse
Glimpses of Mr Sunak’s wealth have been seen through his daily use of a £1,750 Peloton exercise bike and his use of a £180 ‘smart mug’ for hot drinks (above)
It is thought the funds held in Mr Sunak’s blind trust come from the money he earned in his business career – when he worked for investment bank Goldman Sachs and then a hedge fund management firm.
In May, Mr Sunak became the first frontline politician to appear in the Sunday Times’ Rich List since its inception in 1989.
The newspaper calculated his and Ms Murty’s net worth at £730million.
The couple married in 2009 and have two daughters.
As well as a five-bedroom Kensington mews house worth an estimated £7million, they are also said to own a west London flat, a £2million manor house in Mr Sunak’s Yorkshire constituency, and a £5.5million penthouse in Santa Monica, California.
Glimpses of Mr Sunak’s wealth have been seen through his daily use of a £1,750 Peloton exercise bike, his use of a £180 ‘smart mug’ for hot drinks, and his ownership of a pair of £95 sliders.
Last week, following her husband’s dramatic resignation as chancellor, Ms Murty was pictured delivering a tray of hot drinks for members of the press waiting outside their Kensignton home.
The mugs being carried by Ms Murty were later revealed to be Emma Lacey products – with each one worth £38.
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