The Minister's Case - Losing Half a Million Pounds Every Day

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Photo: TT  

Rishi Sunak's fortune is falling by half a million pounds - every day, according to the Sunday Times Richlist. Nevertheless, he and his wife Akshata Murthy remain some of the country's richest billionaires.  

Hanna Törnquist  

Published 2023-05-19 

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The Minister's Case - Losing Half a Million Pounds Every Day  

A year ago, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty made their debut on the Sunday Times Richlist with a fortune of over £730 million. It is estimated to be almost double the assets of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.  

But in twelve months, Sunak and Murty's fortunes have fallen by more than half a million pounds a day. 

Their assets are now estimated to be around £529m, according to the Sunday Times' new list published on Friday.  

The couple's most valuable asset is a stake in Infosys, an Indian IT giant founded by Akshata Murty's father Narayana Murthy. A year ago, their stake was worth £690m.  

Since then, shares of Infosys, which is listed on the Indian stock market, have tumbled due to lower earnings.  

The 0.93 per cent stake in the company owned by Akshata Murty was worth £481.2m when this year's list was compiled, down more than £200m on last year.  

 

Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy at King Charles' coronation. Their fortune is estimated to be almost double that. Photo: Gareth Cattermole/AP  

The couple have previously faced a lot of criticism when it was discovered that Akshata Murty tried to avoid paying UK tax by declaring her main residence in another country. 

In 2021, she could take out £11.6 million in dividends from her holding in Infosys.  

In addition to the assets in Infosys, she owns startup incubator Catamaran Ventures UK and has interests in several other companies. 

Earlier this year, financial reports were published which showed that Rishi Sunak earned just under two million pounds in 2021 and 2022.  

In relation to the couple's total wealth, these are small figures - but it is still more than 50 times the average full-time salary in the UK, writes The Times.  

Before Rishi Sunak began his career in politics, he worked at hedge funds and investment banks and already at the age of 25 he was a "multimillionaire", according to The Times.