Akshata Murty: Where Rishi Sunak's wife got her money from, what her parents do, and what's she worth?

The wealth of the wife of Rishi Sunak has been brought into the spotlight regularly since he moved into 10 Downing Street

The parliament’s standards watchdog previously launched an inquiry into shares Akshata Murthy held in Koru Kids – a childminder agency.

Attention has also been focused on Murty’s tax affairs - put under the microscope after it emerged that her status as a non-domiciled UK resident meant she was paying little tax on her income.

Here’s everything you need to know about the wife of our Prime Minister.

Murty or Murthy?

Akshata Murty’s family use two different spellings for their surname – Murty and Murthy – with her father favouring the latter.

Her mother uses the spelling Murty, which has been adopted by her daughter.

In an interview with the Telegraph of India, she explained: “My husband is Narayana Murthy —t-h-y, okay? I am Murty — t-y. From there I think my independence shows. When we decided to marry, I said Murthy, I am not convinced. Why should I be M-u-r-t-h-y? That’s the wrong spelling.”

How did Akshata Murty meet Rishi Sunak and when did they marry?

Murty and Sunak met at Stanford University in the USA where they were both studying for a Master of Business Administration (MBA).

They were married in August 2009 in the Indian city of Bangalore, at an extravagant event that took place over two days.

What’s Akshata Murty’s job?

Murty originally worked in finance and marketing, before turning to fashion when she started label Akshata Designs, specialising in working with artists in isolated Indian villages. The label closed in 2012.

She is now a director of venture capital firm Catamaran Ventures that was founded by her farther in 2010. She was responsible for setting up a UK arm of the investment company, including opening a London office.

Other interests include a stake in Jamie Oliver's restaurant businesses in the UK, and the Wendy's burger chain in India.

How many children do Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty have?

The couple have two daughters, Krishna and Anoushka.

Little is known about them as they are largely kept out of the public eye, athough on his UK Parliament ‘About Me’ page, the Prime Minister says that they keep him “busy and entertained”.

Who are Akshata Murty's parents?

Akshata Murty's father is billionaire N.R. Narayana Murthy, described by Time Magazine as “the father of the Indian IT Sector”, who co-founded IT company Infosys.

He started Infosys in 1981 and retains the title of ‘chairman emeritus’, although he retired from the board in 2014.

Murthy has been listed among the 12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time by Fortune Magazine and has amassed a fortune estimated at $4.5billion.

Akshata Murty's mother is Sudha Murty, an Indian engineering teacher, author and social worker who is now chairperson of the Infosys Foundation.

In 2001 her novel India Dollar Bahu was adapted for television, while she acted in film Pitruroon, based on another of her stories.

Does Ashaka have any siblings?

Akshata Murty has one brother, Rohan Narayana Murty, who is an Indian technical officer and junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows, and the founder of the Murty Classical Library of India.

Where does Akshata Murty live now?

The couple may now be moving into 10 Downing Street courtesy of Rishi Sunak’s new job, but they have an impressive property portfolio for when they need to get away.

They have a five-bedroom townhouse and a flat in London, as well as a lavish family manor house sitting in 12 acres of grounds in Kirby Sigston, North Yorkshire.

Further afield there’s also the small matter of a substantial property in Santa Monica. California.

How wealthy is Akshata Murty?

By anybody’s standards Akshata Murty – and her family – are fabulously rich.

Taken by themselves, just the 0.91 per cent share she reportedly holds in her family’s tech business are worth £430million.

Her Infosys dividends for the tax year 2021/2022 alone totalled around £11.5m.

Her total net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is around $1.2billion – significantly more than King Charles III.