RISHI SUNAK AND AKSHATA MURTY MAKE UP UK’S RICH LIST WITH A COMBINED FORTUNE OF £730M

Sat 01 May 2022:

The riches of England’s finance minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty has been a point of controversy for some time. Murty, the daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayan Murty, owns 0.9 percent of the company and received £11.6 million in dividend income last year.

As a result, Sunak became the first prominent politician to appear on the Sunday Times rich list, where the couple was ranked 222nd with a £730 million valuation.

This is the first time a major politician has been included on the list since 1989, and with the country experiencing inflation and skyrocketing petrol prices, Sunak may find himself in the spotlight once more.

According to The Guardian, Sunak owns four houses worth an estimated £15m, including a £5m Santa Monica penthouse. Justice secretary Dominic Raab reacted to Sunak’s inclusion to the list and said that this does not mean that he is not in touch with the struggles of the general public.

Sunak and Murty’s entry into the Sunday Times rich list follows the revelation last month that Murty had claimed non-dom status to legally not pay tax on annual dividends she receives from a £690m stake in the Indian IT company Infosys, founded by her billionaire father.

After mounting public outrage, Murty bowed to pressure to pay UK taxes, saying she realised many people felt her tax arrangements were not “compatible with my husband’s job as chancellor”.

“He’s a fantastic example of someone who’s been successful in business, who’s coming to make a big impact in public service. I think we want more of those people,” Raab told Times Radio.

I think it’s fantastic that you’ve got someone of British-Indian origin, showing all people in our country that you can get to the top of politics. And frankly, I think if I understood correctly, the Sunday Times rich list was a reflection of not just him but his wife.

His wife is an incredibly successful entrepreneur in her own right.” Raab explained while commenting on Sunday Times list.

The UK now has a record 177 billionaires, up six on 2021. Their combined wealth is up 9.4% to a record £653bn.

George Dibbs, the head of the Centre for Economic Justice at the Institute for Public Policy Research, said the coronavirus pandemic had allowed already extremely wealthy people to increase their fortunes while the savings of the poorest people were wiped out.