What is Rishi Sunak's Net Worth?
Rishi Sunak is a British politician who has a net worth of $800 million. As of this writing, Rishi Sunak is currently the front-runner to become the United Kingdom's next Prime Minister, replacing Liz Truss who resigned after holding the office for just 44 days. A member of the Conservative Party, Rishi served as the Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2019 to 2020 and then the Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 to 2022. Sunak and Truss were the two final candidates to take over after Boris Johnson stepped down amid a wave of scandals and resignations in July 2022. Truss was ultimately selected in a final Conservative Party membership vote. We we describe in detail throughout the rest of this article, Rishi's wealth is primarily attributable to his wife, Akshata Murty, who is the daughter of Indian billionaire N.R. Narayana Murthy.
Infosys Family Wealth
The vast majority of Rishi Sunak's $800 million net worth is actually attributed to his wife, British-Indian heiress Akshata Murty. That fortune makes the couple among the 200 richest people in the United Kingdom.
Akshata is one of two children born to Indian multi-billionaire N.R. Narayana Murthy. N.R. earned his $4.6 billion fortune as the founder of Infosys, which is the second-largest IT company in India. The publicly traded Infosys (NYSE: "INFY") generates $16 billion in revenue per year, $4 billion in profits and currently has a market cap approaching $80 billion.
As of this writing, N.R. Murthy is the 15th richest person in India.
According to financial filings, Akshata Murty owns 0.93% of Infosys directly and earned around $14 million in dividends from the family business in 2021.
(Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
Is Rishi Sunak a Billionaire?
Rishi Sunak has been technically a billionaire at recent times thanks to his wife's fortune, but there is a caveat: If you are talking about being a billionaire in British pounds, Rishi has not ever been a billionaire. On the other hand, if you're talking about US Dollars, the couple's fortune has indeed been worth the equivalent of right around $1 billion at various points in recent history, especially at the very end of 2021 and beginning of 2022.
In March 2022 the market cap of Infosys was $110 billion (as opposed to current $77 billion). At that level, Akshata's 0.93% stake was worth almost exactly $1 billion.
Furthermore, the fluctuation of the price of the British Pound to the USD has impacted the couple's technical billionaire status. According to the Sunday Times Rich List in early 2022, Rishi and Akshata were 222nd richest people in the U.K. with a fortune at that time which was pegged at 730 million pounds. At that time the pound to dollar ratio was 1.35 to 1. At that level, 730 million pounds were equal to $985 million. As the value of the pound fell to as low as 1.08 to 1 in September 2022, their US dollar equivalent fortune was worth $788 million, and at the same time, between January and September Infosys's market cap fell from $110 billion to $77 billion, further reducing the couple's paper net worth.
Regardless, even at "just" $800 million, Rishi and Akshata's combined net worth makes them $200 million richer than King Charles.
(Photo by Andrew Fox – WPA Pool / Getty Images)
Hedge Funds
Akshata Murty's family fortune is not the couple's sole source of wealth. Rishi worked for Goldman Sachs from 2001 to 2004 before working for a hedge fund called the Children's Investment Fund Management. He left that fund in 2000 and moved to California where he and some friends launched their own firm which they called Theleme Partners. Theleme Partners was launched in October 2010. At launch the firm had raised $700 million in assets.
And finally, between 2013 and 2015 Rishi served as a director of his father-in-law's family office investment fund, Catamaran Ventures.
Personal Life
Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty met while they were both studying at Standord. They married in 2009 and have two daughters.
Real Estate
Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty own an estimated $20 million worth of real estate around the world.
The couple's primary home is a a 5-bedroom mansion in Kensington, West London. This property alone is worth $10 million.
On weekends they retreat to a country estate called Kirby Sigston Manor. Located in North Yorkshire, England, the estate is a grade II National Heritage manor that dates back to 1826. The family bought the manor in 2015 for 1.5 million pounds. After buying the property, they spent an additional 400 thousand pounds converting parts of the property into a wellness retreat with a modern pool, spa and gym. They reportedly spend around $20,000 per year just to heat the pool, which is 50 by 16 feet.
Out in California, where Rishi spent several years running a hedge fund, the couple continue to own a $7 million penthouse apartment in the beach side community of Santa Monica.
