Akshata Narayana Murty[a] (born 25 April 1980) is an Indian heiress, businesswoman, fashion designer, and venture capitalist. She is the wife of former prime minister of the United KingdomRishi Sunak and the daughter of N. R. Narayana Murthy, a founder of the Indian multinational IT company Infosys, and Sudha Murty. She holds a 0.93 percent stake in Infosys, along with shares in several other British businesses.[1][2][3]
Akshata Naryana Murty was born in April 1980 in Hubli, India,[2][7] and was raised by her maternal grandparents while her father, N. R. Narayana Murthy, and her mother, Sudha Murty, worked to launch their technology company, Infosys.[8][7] Her mother was the first female engineer to work for the TATA Engineering and Locomotive Company, then India's largest car maker, and later became a philanthropist.[9] Murty has one brother, Rohan Murty,[10] and they were brought up in Jayanagar, a suburb of Bangalore.[11] Her maternal grandparents were R. H. Kulkarni, a surgeon, and his wife Vimala Kulkarni, a school teacher.[12]
In 2007, Murty joined the Dutch cleantech firm Tendris as its marketing director, where she worked for two years, before leaving to start her own fashion firm.[7][15] Her fashion label closed in 2012.[2]
In 2013, she became the director of venture capital fund Catamaran Ventures.[7] She co-founded, with her husband Rishi Sunak, the London branch of the Indian firm owned by her father, N. R. Narayana Murthy.[16] Sunak transferred his shares to her shortly before being elected as the Conservative MP for Richmond in 2015.[17] Since 2015, she has owned a 0.91%[2] or 0.93% share of her father's technology firm Infosys, valued at around £481 million in 2023,[1] and shares in two of Jamie Oliver's restaurant businesses, Wendy's in India, and Koro Kids.[18] This made her richer than Queen Elizabeth II as of April 2022[update],[2] and richer than King Charles III as of October 2022.[19] As of 2022[update], Murthy was a director at Digme Fitness, and also Soroco, the digital transformation company that her brother Rohan Murty co-founded.[18]
In April 2022, Murty's wealth became the focus of British media discussion[17][18] that noted her non-domiciled resident status in the United Kingdom, which entitled her to pay no tax on her income outside Britain, subject to an annual payment of £30,000.[6][8][18] Later the same month, Murty announced that she would give up her non-domiciled status and pay UK taxes on her worldwide income voluntarily.[5][29][30] If Murty pays UK taxes on her worldwide income, but retains her non-domiciliary status, she can benefit from a provision in a 1956 treaty that was designed to help avoid double taxation of Indian citizens in India as well as the UK.[31]
^Shah, Rishna (8 September 2011). "Meet the designer: Akshata Murty". Vogue India. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022. Local craftsmanship meets contemporary Western silhouettes in this ethical designer's label
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