Rishi SunakHis family’s family fortune has taken a hit of £230m in the past three and a half months as a result of a collapse in the share price of his father-in-law’s company.
The ex-chancellor, who is the frontrunner to replace Boris Johnson as Tory leader, enjoys immense wealth thanks to his wife’s stake in IT giant Infosys.
The Indian technology company was founded by NR Narayana Murthy, the billionaire father of Mr Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty.
She owns 0.93 percent of Infosys in her own name, while Mr. Sunak and Ms. Murty also have their own investment company called Catamaran Ventures.
In addition to the couple’s joint interests, Mr. Sunak is believed to have amassed a small fortune from his previous career as a banker.
But his and his wife’s vast wealth has taken a hit since late March after Infosys’ stock price plummeted.
On March 30, Infosys shares were worth $25.14, but are now worth just £18.18, as of yesterday.
The share price has wiped billions from the company’s value. And the value of Ms Murty’s own property has fallen by about £230 million over that period.
Her stake in her father’s company is now worth around £600 million.
The biggest drop in Infosys’ stock price came in April, after the company announced earnings that were below expectations.
But the fall is unlikely to have disturbed the company, or Ms. Murty, too much, as Infosys’ value had previously surged during the Covid pandemic.
On March 30, Infosys shares were worth $25.14, but are now worth just £18.18, as of yesterday
Rishi Sunak, the frontrunner to replace Boris Johnson as Tory leader, enjoys huge wealth thanks to his wife’s stake in IT giant Infosys
The Indian technology company was founded by NR Narayana Murthy, the father of Mr Sunak’s husband Akshata Murty
Ms Murty’s holding in Infosys became widely known in early April when she was forced to admit she had non-pastoral tax status in the UK.
This is estimated to have saved her from having to pay millions of pounds to HMRC every year, even while her husband was in charge of the treasury.
The feud threatened to derail Mr Sunak’s political career, and his popularity plummeted in the weeks following the tax dispute.
His financial arrangements came under further scrutiny when it was revealed that he held a US green card for more than 18 months after becoming chancellor.
In an effort to end the dispute over her tax status – and save her husband’s political fortune – Ms Murty has since agreed to pay UK tax on her worldwide fortune.
Like him and his wife’s investment company, and their large stake in Infosys, Mr. Sunak also has a blind trust that manages its financial interests.
He set this up in 2019 before becoming Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Under a standard blind trust arrangement, individuals can still receive income from their investments, but cannot make decisions about how the money is invested.
Labor has previously urged Mr Sunak to be “completely transparent” about whether any of the funds he has invested in a blind trust are held in offshore tax havens.
In addition to his wife’s stake in Infosys, Mr. Sunak and Ms. Murty also have their own investment company called Catamaran Ventures
The couple’s property portfolio includes a Kensington stable house, a flat in West London, a townhouse in Mr Sunak’s constituency of Yorkshire (pictured) and a California penthouse.
Glimpses of Mr Sunak’s wealth have been seen through his daily use of a £1,750 Peloton exercise bike and his use of a £180 ‘smart mug’ for hot drinks (above)
The funds in Mr. Sunak’s blind faith are thought to have come from the money he made in his business career – when he worked for investment bank Goldman Sachs and then for a hedge fund management company.
In May, Mr. Sunak became the first frontline politician to appear on the Sunday Times Rich List since its inception in 1989.
The newspaper estimated his and Mrs Murty’s net worth at £730 million.
The couple married in 2009 and have two daughters.
As well as a five-bedroom Kensington mews house valued at an estimated £7million, they are also said to own a West London flat, a £2million country house in Mr Sunak’s constituency of Yorkshire and a £5 penthouse .5 million in Santa Monica, California.
Glimpses of Mr Sunak’s wealth can be seen through his daily use of a £1,750 Peloton exercise bike, his use of a £180 ‘smart mug’ for hot drinks and his possession of a pair of £95 sliders.
Last week, following her husband’s dramatic resignation as Chancellor, Ms Murty was pictured delivering a tray of hot drinks to members of the press waiting outside their Kensignton home.
The mugs Mrs Murty wore were later found to be Emma Lacey products, worth £38 each.